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Germany will authorize the delivery of tanks to Ukraine, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Tuesday. This is a clear change in Berlin’s cautious policy of military support for Kiev, reports the AFP agency.
The German government has agreed to sign the handover of the anti-aircraft tanks used by Gepard, Lambrecht said at an international meeting of Defense ministers at the US air base Ramstein, according to a copy of her speech which was seen by AFP.
Forty countries are holding urgent talks at the air base in southwestern Germany to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities.
The meeting, held at the invitation of the United States, was “focused on creating the conditions to generate additional capabilities and capacity for Ukrainian forces,” according to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
France is sending Caesar cannons with a range of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and Britain has provided Starstreak missiles and anti-aircraft tanks.
The Cheetah tanks will not come from the German army, but from stocks held by the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) weapons group, government sources told AFP.
They were removed from service 10 years ago and need to be technically upgraded, sources said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been criticized for refusing to send direct heavy weapons to Ukraine, despite announcing a “turning point” in German defense policy in response to the war.
Critics have accused Scholz of weak leadership and said his Social Democrats (SPD) are too reluctant to break away from their historic policy of tension against Moscow.
Scholz has even faced criticism from within his coalition government, a partnership between the SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP.
The chancellor has justified his cautious approach by saying he wants to avoid a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia, a nuclear power.
But according to a draft document seen by AFP on Tuesday, the three coalition parties now plan to submit a joint proposal to parliament calling for the shipment of heavy weapons to Ukraine.
The document calls on the government to “continue and, where possible, expedite the delivery of necessary equipment to Ukraine, including extending the distribution of heavy weapons and complex systems.”
He also suggests that Ukrainian soldiers should be trained in Germany and other NATO countries to operate weapons.
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