Germany has confirmed that it will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and approve their re-export from other countries, in a move that was hailed by Kyiv’s Western allies and decried by Russia as a dangerous escalation, Aljazeera reported.
Fourteen of the German-made tanks will be sent initially as part of Berlin’s historic move, which was announced on Wednesday.
“This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability. We are acting in a closely coordinated manner internationally,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement.
The government said its goal was for Germany and its allies to provide Ukraine with a total of two battalions, or 88 tanks overall.
Ukrainian troops will soon train in Germany, and Berlin will also provide logistics and ammunition, its statement added.
But the Russian embassy in Germany said Berlin’s decision meant it was abandoning its “historical responsibility to Russia” arising from Nazi crimes in World War II.
The embassy said in a statement the decision would escalate the conflict to a new level.
“This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the statements of German politicians about the unwillingness of the Federal Republic of Germany to be drawn into it,” Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said.
MNA/PR