Germany faced a strong backlash from its allies on Saturday for refusing to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine to boost its combat capacity in its nearly year-long war with Russia.
On Friday, some 50 countries agreed to supply Kyiv with billions of dollars in military hardware, including armored vehicles and ammunition needed to push back Russian forces.
But German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the US Ramstein Air Base that despite higher expectations, “We still cannot say when a decision will be made, and what the decision will be, when it comes to the Leopard tank.”
On Saturday, some allies praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the tanks were vital to Ukraine’s battle with its larger neighbor.
In a joint statement – and a rare public criticism of Europe’s top power – the foreign ministers of the three Baltic states said they were “calling on Germany to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine now.”
“This is needed to stop Russian aggression, help Ukraine and restore peace in Europe as soon as possible. Germany as a leading European power has a special responsibility in this regard,” said the statement, tweeted by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics.
Germany has hesitated to send Leopards, or allow other countries to transfer to Kyiv, with reports at the beginning of the week saying it would agree to do so only if the US provides its tanks as well. Washington says it cannot supply Abrams tanks to Ukraine, due to training and maintenance difficulties.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who is currently visiting Kyiv, called on both sides to supply the machines.
“To Germany: Send tanks to Ukraine because they need it. It is in your own national interest if (Russian President Vladimir) Putin loses Ukraine.”
“To the Administration of (US President Joe) Biden: Send American tanks so that others will follow our lead,” he said.
Expectations had grown ahead of Friday’s meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, a US-led group of about 50 countries that supply arms to Ukraine, that Germany would at least agree that other countries that operate Leopards would be allowed to deliver them to Kyiv’s army.
– Funeral –
In Kyiv on Saturday, Zelensky attended the funeral of the interior minister and other officials who were killed in a helicopter crash outside the capital on Wednesday.
Denys Monastyrsky, who as interior minister was one of Zelensky’s top aides, became the highest-ranking Ukrainian official killed in the war launched by Russia on February 24, 2022.
The cause of the helicopter crash that killed him and 13 others when it crashed near a kindergarten is still under investigation.
US officials say Ukraine still faces an uphill battle against Russian forces, who still hold a fifth of the country, 11 months after the invasion.
But he spoke of a possible campaign in recent weeks by Ukraine to reclaim part of its land.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs General Mark Milley pointed to a substantial amount of equipment – many armored vehicles and artillery – that Ukraine is pledging in Ramstein, as well as large-scale training of its forces by allies.
“I think it is very possible for the Ukrainians to open significant tactical or even operational-level offensive operations to liberate as much Ukrainian territory as possible,” Milley said.
But the Kremlin warned Friday that Western tanks will make little difference on the battlefield.
“It is not necessary to exaggerate the importance of these supplies in terms of their ability to replace something,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.