Chancellor Olaf Scholz insists that the Federal government will not decide on its own about deliveries of main battle tanks to Ukraine. “We will not go it alone in everything we do,” Scholz said on Deutschlandfunk on Saturday. He was reacting to demands from Ukraine, the Union and the traffic light coalition that Germany should supply Leopard tanks. Germany is already one of the most important suppliers of arms to Ukraine and, with the Panzerhaubitze 2000, has supplied the most modern device ever used in the war against the Russian attackers, stressed the Chancellor. “It was precisely the weapons that we made available that made the difference and also made the current successes that Ukraine has achieved possible,” said Scholz.
The federal government had just announced the delivery of two more multiple rocket launchers and 50 armored Dingo vehicles on Thursday. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had insisted on a quick decision from Western partners, including about battle tanks.
Scholz emphasized that only the US, UK and Germany have supplied multiple rocket launchers. Neither the USA, Great Britain nor France supply western-style main battle tanks. Scholz pointed out that the federal government had ensured that Ukraine received Soviet-designed battle tanks through ring exchanges with the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Greece. the Deliveries of Leopard tanks have been a contentious issue in the coalition for weeks made up of SPD, Greens and FDP.
Scholz renewed the commitment on Deutschlandfunk that the federal government would help Ukraine in the medium term, above all with the development of air defense and artillery. In this context, the “Welt am Sonntag” reported according to the preliminary report that the federal government had agreed to the delivery of 18 examples of the RCH-155 howitzer worth 216 million euros. The Ukraine ordered this from the armaments company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). According to the manufacturer, delivery is possible in 30 months at the earliest.