Why the debate over tank deliveries to Ukraine remains unsolved | DW News

Germany faced increasing pressure on Thursday over its hesitancy to send Kyiv battle tanks after Poland said it was willing to do so. Poland is willing to transfer a company of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda said during a visit to western Ukraine on Wednesday. Duda said, however, said that Poland could only transfer them as part of a broader coalition of countries willing to send so-called "main battle tanks" that can destroy other tanks. A company typically consists of 14 tanks. Zelenskyy said he was "awaiting a joint decision" because "one country cannot provide us with a sufficient number of them."

Berlin would need to sign off on the move to send German-made tanks, but German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said earlier this week that they have not received a request to send the tanks to Ukraine. Germany last week announced it was going to send Marder infantry fighting vehicles, but pressure is now building for it to supply more powerful battle tanks to Ukraine. The UK earlier this week said it was ready to send a dozen of its own battle tanks and France has also been reportedly increasing pressure on Berlin to send main battle tanks ahead of a bilateral summit between the leaders of France and Germany on January 22.

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said that Berlin would not stand in the way of other countries' military support for Ukraine. "Germany should not stand in the way of other countries taking decisions to support Ukraine, independent of which decisions Germany takes," Habeck said in response to a reporter's question on the topic. "We make our decisions in coordination with other partners and countries," Habeck added.

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