The German chancellor has rejected Ukraine’s pleas for heavy weapons amid the continuing Russian invasion, news outlets have reported.
Olaf Scholz rebuffed the request last weekend, as he hosted Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper reports.
“Despite the pleas of Ukraine’s PM Denys Shmyhal, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to supply heavy weaponry to Kyiv, especially the Leopard 2 tanks,” Der Spiegel writes. “The government in Berlin doesn’t see it as an option, even though one of the arms makers is ready to support Ukraine,” the German daily added. According to Der Spiegel, the company in question, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), back in April offered to supply Ukraine with 100 Leopard 2A7 tanks, complete with spare parts, in a shipment worth EUR 1.55 billion. KMW said the first machines could be delivered within 36 months from the signing of an agreement, Der Spiegel wrote.
Moreover, the chancellor “expressed no willingness to change his negative stance towards the shipments [of Leopards], Der Spiegel noted.
Source: tysol.pl.
