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New Delhi: Amid a series of talks and prevailing confusion, Germany has come under attack after it was accused of being “terrified of upsetting Vladimir Putin” over sending Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv to counter Russian aggression.
Since the full-scale war began on February 24, Kyiv is desperately asking for heavy tanks to counter its planned counter-offensive operations.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) armies are equipped with around 2,000 Leopard 2 tanks and they are ready to send these tanks in Ukraine but the decision to send tanks came to standstill after Germany led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to give the permission to its allies to send the German-made tanks to Ukraine.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has now got huge relief after Germany said it would “not stand in the way” of Poland sending tanks.
But Germany once again dragged its feet over the matter with Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer who served for nearly 30 years, telling Express.co.uk: “Germany’s reaction to helping supply Ukraine with tanks, weapons and other heavy artillery has been very disappointing.
“They really ought to send Leopard II tanks to Ukraine but even if it doesn’t it should not have allowed countries like Poland and Finland who bought those tanks from Germany and want to send them,” Kemp told Express.co.uk.
“This comes down to what we have seen from Germany all the way through this conflict – we have seen fear of antagonising Russia. It’s inbuilt in their DNA in a way because they have had such a close relationship with Russia for many years that they are terrified of upsetting Putin even more than he already is,” he said.
Explaining it further, Colonel Kemp told Express.co.uk “Leopard II tanks “are the best in terms of how easy it would be for Ukrainian forces to learn to operate them” and that between 200 and 300 could be deployed “very quickly”.He went as far as to say: “That makes them very valuable and potentially a battle winner for Ukraine.”
The Biden administration along with its allies stuck in a standoff with Germany over sending tanks to Ukraine. However, German officials indicated the apathy in sending their Leopard tanks to Ukraine until the US also decides to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
The tank controversy erupted after the debate between the US and its European allies emerged over whether to send tanks and other weapon to Kyiv, including longer-range missiles that has capacity to hit targets as far as 200 miles away.
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