Poland will ask Germany for permission to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Monday, APA reports citing Associated Press.
Morawiecki didn’t specify when the request will be made. He said that Poland is building a coalition of nations ready to send Leopards.
“We will ask (Germany) for permission, but this is a secondary theme,” Morawiecki said. “Even if, eventually, we do not get this permission, we — within this small coalition — even if Germany is not in this coalition, we will hand over our tanks, together with the others, to Ukraine.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Poland hasn’t formally asked for Berlin’s approval to share some of its German-made Leopards, but added “if we were asked, we would not stand in the way.”
Regarding Baerbock’s comments, Morawiecki said that “exerting pressure makes sense” and that her words are a “spark of hope” that Germany may even take part in the coalition.
“We are constantly exerting pressure on the government in Berlin to make its Leopards available,” Morawiecki told a news conference in the western city of Poznan.
According to Morawiecki, Germany has “more than 350 active Leopards and about 200 in storage.”
The Ukrainian government says that tanks, and especially the German-made Leopards, are vital if it is to prevail over the Kremlin’s invading forces.
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