New Delhi: Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he had a “frank discussion” with his German counterpart about sending German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv to confront Russian armour.
The development came after defence leaders meeting at a US air base in Germany on Friday failed without yielding any positive results over providing advanced battle tanks to Ukraine.
Leopard 2 tanks is seen as a potential game-changer for Ukraine, considering its strategic designed to compete with the Russian T-90 tanks, which is being widely used by Russia.
Reznikov after meeting Western allies said “We had a frank discussion on Leopards 2. It will be continued,”.
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.
Germany’s standoff
Germany has not yet decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine despite huge pressure from U.S. on Berlin to act accordingly. The Biden administration is 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.
Germany used to have a policy of not sending ammunition to conflict zones, but the policy was reversed last February after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Why are tanks so important for Ukraine?
Following pitched battles for control of territory over the past year, officials said it was clear that tanks would be crucial in pushing back Russian forces. That has taken on increased importance this winter, given a limited window for Ukraine to seize an advantage before Russia deploys hundreds of thousands of newly conscripted soldiers in an anticipated spring offensive.
Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, has said his forces need about 300 Western tanks to make a difference in battles for fiercely contested cities and towns in the eastern provinces that border Russia.Over the past year, NATO allies in Eastern Europe supplied Ukraine with Soviet-era and Russian-made tanks that have been ground down or destroyed in constant fighting.
Providing the sophisticated battle tanks — one of the most powerful symbols of war — was long seen as a red line by the United States and its closest European allies who feared Russian retaliation.
But the debate shifted this month, with France, Germany and the United States announcing plans to send, for the first time, armoured fighting vehicles to Ukraine to help in the grinding ground war. Days later, Britain said it would send a platoon of Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, some arriving within weeks.
With inputs from agencies.
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