Poland to gather smaller coalition if Germany doesn’t agree to hand Leopard tanks to Ukraine - Morawiecki
This was announced by the head of the Polish government, Mateusz Morawiecki, during a press conference in Poznan, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"We will apply for such consent, but this is just a secondary issue," Morawiecki emphasized.
According to the prime minister, even if Warsaw does not receive this consent in the end, it will still transfer its tanks within the framework of a "smaller coalition" that will not include Germany. He noted that the only prerequisite for Poland is the creation of a small coalition of states. Therefore, in this direction, together with President Andrzej Duda, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense Mariusz Blaszczak, he is actively contacting Western partners.
The head of government said the statement of the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Baerbock, that Germany will not stand against the transfer of Polish Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine gives a "spark of hope" that Germany will not only not block the transfer of tanks, but will eventually hand over its own modern heavy armored vehicles to Kyiv. Therefore, he emphasized that pressure on Berlin from the Polish side "makes sense."
He noted that Poland previously exerted pressure on Germany in the matter of transferring the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Ukraine, and that this brought positive results.
"Also, we are currently putting pressure on the government in Berlin to provide their Leopard 2 tanks," Morawiecki stated.
He emphasized that Germany can really help Ukraine, as it has 350 Leopard 2 tanks in service with the Bundeswehr and another 200 tanks of this type in stock.
The head of the Polish government noted that it is necessary to build a coalition of countries that will transfer tanks to Ukraine. Therefore, negotiations are ongoing with international partners who "have tanks of other types, but very modern ones." According to him, Great Britain is among those countries.
Morawiecki emphasized that the transfer of tanks will make sense only when it will be possible to arm a large combat unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"These are difficult discussions, but we will overcome the barriers of misunderstanding in different countries," summed up the head of the Polish government.
As reported by Ukrinform, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in an interview with the French TV channel LCI that Germany will not stand in the way of Poland if it decides to transfer German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Poland intends to transfer a company of Leopard 2 tanks (14 units) to Ukraine. Previously, the Polish authorities declared that they intend to do this even without the consent of Germany, which is the Leopard producer.
As reported, defense chiefs of more than 50 countries during the eighth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein base in Germany failed to reach an agreement on the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that a decision could be made in the near future, stopping short of suggesting the timeframe. In an interview with the German TV channel ARD, he said that the government has to consider multiple factors and that the country will not make a hasty decision. Such factors include the security implications for the German population.
