Ukrainian forces should receive training on how to operate German-made Leopard main battle tanks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius suggested as Western allies urge Berlin to send the tanks to Ukraine.
“We are encouraging our partners — if they want to and if they have the possibility — to start training [Ukrainian troops] on these Leopard vehicles, if they wish to do so,” Pistorius said Tuesday during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. “We’re not stopping anyone.”
That guidance represents a step toward Ukraine’s eventual use of the prized main battle tanks in the war zone following weeks of diplomatic pressure on Germany to join a coalition of countries eager to send the tanks to Ukraine. Stoltenberg backed that appeal during this visit to Berlin, albeit in a more congenial tone than some Central and Eastern European officials have adopted while still urging allies to accelerate their reinforcement of Ukraine’s military.
“We had a good discussion today on the issue of German battle tanks, and I’m confident that there will be a solution soon,” Stoltenberg said. “And I welcome also the clear message from the minister that our other allies, other NATO allies that have Leopard battle tanks are of course free … to start training of Ukrainian crews for those battle tanks. Because after the decision has been taken on delivery of battle tanks, it will take some time to identify, to make ready, and to train Ukrainian crews.”
POLAND SAYS IT REQUESTED GERMAN APPROVAL TO SEND TANKS TO UKRAINE
Scholz disappointed many U.S. and European officials last week by declining to announce that Germany would donate Leopard tanks to Ukraine, a decision paired with private resistance even to allowing other countries that own the tanks to make donations from their stores. Scholz reportedly told U.S. lawmakers that he would not send Leopards into the conflict unless President Joe Biden also sent U.S.-made Abrams tanks, even though the United Kingdom already has set a precedent by donating British tanks.
“We have talk to our German partners, not to procrastinate, not to delay, but just to take brave decisions,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the BBC. “Germany played a key role in building up the huge Russian funds for this war by buying Russian gas, trading with Russia, big time. Now, there is a special responsibility on Germany’s shoulders.”
Pistorius defended Germany’s record of aid to Ukraine while emphasizing that the question of whether to send Leopards to Ukraine is still under discussion. “We are one of the top supporters, and that is often forgotten public discussion,” he said through an interpreter. “I call upon everyone … not to create that impression that there’s this division through the alliance. There are some partners that are still evaluating their decisions, and others want to go a bit faster, but we are not un-united. So, this is a process that is ongoing.”
Biden’s team is considering a proposal to donate several Abrams tanks, despite their previous assessment that the tanks are too complicated and the technology too sensitive, in order to spur Germany to make the Leopards available.
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“We are not going to be prescriptive,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday when asked about the U.S. message to German officials. “The only thing that we’re continuing to prescribe is that President Putin’s aggression will continue to be a strategic failure. We are going to provide Ukraine with what it needs to take on the battle that it’s facing at any given moment.”
