At the Davos forum, Volodymyr Zelensky intervened by video conference to call for an acceleration of the shipment of arms to Ukraine. Without citing Berlin, the Ukrainian president alluded to Germany’s reluctance to authorize the delivery of Leopard tanks to his country. A request heard by Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO, who indicated that ” the main message will be greater support with heavier and more modern weapons “.
In his speech, the Ukrainian president lamented that ” tyranny advances faster than democracies ” and ” the time the free world uses to think is used by a terrorist state to kill “. And add: Three minutes on January 14, (that’s) the time it took a Russian missile to travel hundreds of kilometers, hit a residential building in Dnipro and kill at least 45 people. “. The Contact Group for Ukraine, which brings together about fifty countries led by the United States, will meet on Friday, January 20, at the American base in Ramstein, Germany, to coordinate the continuation of aid to Kyiv.
Germany is reluctant to send tanks
After the UK pledged to send heavy tanks, the Challenger 2, this weekend, pressure has especially increased in recent days on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, so he quickly authorizes the delivery of Leopards, main battle tanks powerful Any shipment of German-made equipment must receive the green light from Berlin. Finnish, Lithuanian, Polish and British leaders had again called on Tuesday 17 January for a quick decision.
Also read – War in Ukraine: London to provide tanks, Volodymyr Zelensky hails this ‘good sign’
Olaf Scholz, who was speaking just before President Zelensky in Davos, did not make this announcement in his speech and dodged an explicit question about sending Leopard 2 to Ukraine during a question-and-answer session after his speech. ” We support Ukraine not only with financial means and humanitarian aid, but also with many weapons ” he said simply.
The German chancellor’s Social Democratic Party is reluctant to hand over these powerful armored vehicles, believing it could provoke an escalation with Moscow, observers say. According to the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the chancellor would have linked the shipment of Leopard tanks to the condition that Washington does the same. The Wall Street Journal reports the same.
Source : Le JDD
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