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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Photos/BBC
DAVOS – Chancellor German Olaf Scholz promised additional military support to Ukraine . Even so, he was still reluctant to send the Leopard battle tank.
“We are delivering a lot of very important weapons,” he told an international audience at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and stressed military support to Ukraine would continue as long as needed.
Asked whether his government would send German-made Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, Scholz gave a cautious answer.
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“Ukraine can count on our support for a brave struggle, but it is also clear that we will avoid that this becomes a war between Russia and NATO,” he said as quoted by Anadolu, Thursday (19/2/2023).
Scholz once again underlined that Germany will not act unilaterally and will coordinate closely with the United States (US) and other partners in terms of military support to Ukraine.
Despite repeated requests by Western partners, the German government has hesitated to deliver its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
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Kiev has long requested battle tanks from its Western backers amid the ongoing conflict with Russia. Berlin has so far been reluctant to comply with these demands, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeatedly arguing that no other NATO country would provide Ukraine with such weapons.
Germany is now under pressure after Britain decided to send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. This makes Britain the first Western country to take such a step.
Germany itself has promised to provide assistance Merder light combat vehicles to Kiev, along with the US which will send Bradley. This step was taken after previously France was going to send a vehicle similar to the AMX-10 RC.
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