Ukraine may get the Leopard after another round of negotiations between the US and Germany
The situation with the provision of Leopard tanks to Ukraine can be resolved after another round of negotiations between the USA and Germany. But even before that, these tanks can arrive from Poland.
Defense Express director, military expert Serhii Zgurets said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
“I think that the situation will repeat the story with Patriot, when at first Germany said that it should be a decision of the United States, a collective decision of NATO. And then, after negotiations with the United States in a fairly open format, Germany decided to transfer the Patriot to Ukraine. I think that now there will be another round of negotiations between the United States and Germany, and the issue of the Leopard transfer to Ukraine will be resolved – at the expense of both Germany and other NATO countries that have tanks of one type or another, but of the “leopard” color, let’s say so, – he meets.
Zgurets does not rule out that Poland’s decision to hand over tanks to Ukraine could be the mail for Germany. At the same time, such an approach will not affect Polish-German relations.
“Poland is taking this step in view of the overall European security and understanding – if it does not supply weapons to Ukraine now, then Europe itself will generally take up arms and try to demonstrate the courage that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are currently demonstrating. This is still a big question. Therefore, the logic of supporting Ukraine looks quite rational,” the expert explained.
At the same time, he noted that the delay in the decision on the transfer to Ukraine tanks Leopard does not demand “historical limitations” of Germany – rather it is about “certain economic things or some third-order arguments” that the US and Germany have to figure out between themselves.
“I think that there are some things here that are important for Germany, maybe in some other plane of economic or political activity. Maybe Germany is using this story to change something in some other issue in relations with the USA,” – believes Zgurets.
At the same time, Zgurets evaluates the general results of the current meeting of “Ramstein” quite positively, noting that the promised supplies of weapons largely satisfy the needs of the Ukrainian army, previously defined by Zaluzhny.
“In fact, there are changes in the supply of sample systems, which are extremely insufficient for us, when we talk about strengthening the air defense system, armored vehicles, significant stocks of ammunition, means of attack,” he added.
As reported by Ukrinform, on January 20, the eighth meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine was held at the American Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the heads of defense departments of more than 50 countries have not reached an agreement on the supply of main tanks to Ukraine, but such a decision can be made very quickly.
Photo: Bild