Ukraine war in the Newsblog ++ Morawiecki skeptical whether Germany will release tanks

Day 330 since war began: Special Court called to investigate alleged war crimes. Russia warns against arms deliveries. All information in the news blog.

8:08 p.m.: The new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has confirmed that Germany will not go it alone when it comes to possible deliveries of Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. “We’ll have to wait and see if that rolls off. We’re in talks, especially with our transatlantic partner, the United States,” the SPD politician told RTL on Thursday. “Just like we’ve done in all other cases before: It’s about not going it alone.” This is about “concerted” actions, as was the case recently with the Marder tank.

He emphasized that Germany has always supported Ukraine since the beginning of the war and will continue to do so. “Russia must not win the war and the Federal Republic of Germany will make every contribution that is necessary,” said the new minister.

Defense ministers and high-ranking military officials from numerous countries are meeting at the US Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday to discuss further support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. The focus should be on the possible delivery of battle tanks to Kyiv. Pistorius also attends the meeting.

7.40 p.m.: Iran says it has not yet recognized Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. “Despite the excellent relations between Tehran and Moscow, we did not recognize Crimea’s secession from Ukraine,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian in an interview published by Turkish broadcaster TRT on Thursday. He added: “We did not recognize the secession of Luhansk and Donetsk.” Tehran is seen as a supporter of Russia in the war against Ukraine, primarily by supplying kamikaze drones. The political leadership denies this to this day.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and, including the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, occupies a good 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory. In the course of the war of aggression, Russia annexed the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east in September, in violation of international law. Kyiv is almost entirely dependent on Western arms supplies for defense and attempts at reconquest.

In order to mitigate the effects of Western sanctions, Tehran has been courting Russia for economic and military cooperation for years. While Iran advocates an end to the war, it has never criticized the Russian invasion. Tehran describes NATO’s eastward expansion as the cause of the war.

6.35 p.m.: Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is pessimistic about Germany’s permission for other countries to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. “I’m moderately skeptical, moderately pessimistic, because the Germans are fighting back like a devil against holy water,” says Morawiecki. Poland says a broad coalition of supplier countries is a condition for the delivery of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

5:23 p.m.: The UK on Thursday announced it would deliver 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine. The anti-tank weapon will be “incredibly important in helping Ukraine dominate the battlefield,” British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said after a donors’ conference with several of his colleagues in Tapa, Estonia. Just a few days ago, London announced the delivery of British Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Denmark announced that it would deliver 19 French-made Caesar howitzers to Ukraine. According to the Danish Defense Ministry, Kyiv requested the artillery despite certain technical challenges.

For its part, the Estonian government announced that it would provide Ukraine with its “largest military aid package to date”. The armaments with a total value of around 113 million euros include anti-tank weapons and ammunition. The package would increase Estonian military aid to Ukraine to 370 million euros “or just over 1 percent of Estonia’s gross domestic product,” it said.