Leopard delivery does not depend on US Abrams

Day 331 since the beginning of the war: the Ukraine contact group is advising in Ramstein. Selenskyj urgently asks for Leopard tanks. All information in the news blog.

12.50 p.m.: The federal government has clarified that it does not make the supply of German-made Leopard 2 tanks dependent on the supply of M1 Abrams tanks from the USA. “At no time (…) was there a link or a demand that one thing had to happen so that the other could happen,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Friday in Berlin. “Bild” and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) only wanted to deliver the Leopard tanks if the USA agreed to their Abrams tanks.

“It’s hard for me to imagine a German chancellor dictating any conditions or making demands on an American president,” Hebestreit said. However, he also reiterated that coordinated action with the United States is important to the federal government. This was also the case with the decisions about the Marder armored personnel carriers or the multiple rocket launchers.

Poland and Finland have already announced that they want to deliver Leopard 2 tanks in the European network. Germany has not yet positioned itself on this. Hebestreit said there was still no official request from Poland. On the question of how the federal government would react if Poland were to deliver without a permit, the government spokesman said: “All our partners certainly want to behave in accordance with the law.”

11:33 am: According to the Kremlin, the delivery of western main battle tanks to Ukraine will not prevent Russia from achieving its war goals. “It’s not worth exaggerating the importance of these deliveries in terms of their ability to make a difference,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, according to the Interfax news agency. He justified this, among other things, with problems with supplies, ammunition supply and maintenance of the tanks.

“It creates additional problems for Ukraine, but does not change the progress of the Russian side in achieving their goals,” said the 55-year-old. Nevertheless, he criticized the planned arms deliveries as an escalation of the conflict.

11.11 a.m.: The Netherlands has opened up about the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine. If the government in Kyiv so wishes, the cabinet would “openly” examine such a request, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in a parliamentary debate on Thursday. This is reported by several Dutch media unanimously.

10.30 a.m.: Representatives from numerous countries are meeting at the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate to discuss further aid for Ukraine. At the start, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called for efforts to be further intensified.

8.30 a.m.: According to a Washington Post report, CIA director William Burns met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. The newspaper reported on Thursday (local time), citing US officials and unspecified informed circles. During the conversation at the end of last week, the head of the US foreign intelligence service informed the Ukrainian head of state about the military operations planned by Russia in Ukraine in the coming weeks.

“Director Burns visited Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian intelligence officials and President Zelenskyy, and reiterated our continued support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” an unnamed US official was quoted as saying. Burns had already warned in January last year of a Russian attack on Kiev airport right at the start of the invasion. According to the newspaper, this warning thwarted an important part of the Russian operation against Kyiv.