Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki suggests sending Leopard 2 tanks of German manufacture to Ukraine despite Germany's reluctance to approve the re-export, PAP reports.
"We will not stand by idly and watch Ukraine bleed to death. If we don’t get German agreement on the Leopards, we will build a "smaller coalition" of countries ready to donate some of their modern tanks to a fighting Ukraine," the Polish minister wrote on his social media page.
Read more: One Billion Worth of Military Aid Instead of Leopard 2: Germany Says No Decision on Tanks Approved
The statement comes after the controversy during this Friday's meeting of defense ministers from over 50 countries at Ramstein Air Base to discuss and coordinate military assistance to Ukraine amid the fight against the russian invasion.
One of the key issues discussed at this summit was supplying German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Poland was among the several countries that promised to do so and even started to train Ukrainian soldiers using them already, but the decision on transfer wasn't approved.
German minister Boris Pistorius said his country was not the only one against the provision of tanks, saying there were "pros and cons" about providing tanks denied allegations that Germany was the only country against it.
"The impression that occasionally arises that there’s a united coalition and Germany is standing in the way is wrong,” he said, adding that there were “many allies” who shared Germany’s view of the tanks issue," Pistorius said, as quoted by Financial Times.
But the Polish Prime Minister disagrees, saying if Germany activated just a small percentage of its resources, there would be progress on the matter.
"Above all, Berlin should not weaken or sabotage the activities of other countries," Mateusz Morawiecki said.
As a reminder, before the meeting, Poland raised the question of creating a coalition of Ukraine's allies to provide modern tanks to Ukraine, as the President of Poland Andrzej Duda paid a visit to Ukraine on January 11 alongside Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.
Poland became the first country to announce it would give its Leopard 2 to Ukraine, soon followed by Finland. In the meantime, the United Kingdom stepped up and committed its Challenger 2 tanks, and Ukrainian soldiers are expected to start training on them soon.
Read more: Not only Challenger 2 tanks: UK will Send Self-propelled Guns to Aid the Ukrainian Defenders
