Germany Not Yet Ready To Supply Tanks To Ukraine - Defense Minister

As a result of the meeting of the contact group on support for Ukraine, NATO countries and their allies failed to reach a consensus on the supply of German tanks to Kiev, but Berlin will continue to consider this possibility, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2023) As a result of the meeting of the contact group on support for Ukraine, NATO countries and their allies failed to reach a consensus on the supply of German tanks to Kiev, but Berlin will continue to consider this possibility, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Friday.

The group's meeting is taking place on Friday at the US airbase Ramstein in Germany. Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed hope that decisions on the supply of heavy weapons to Kiev would be made as a result of the meeting.

"We discussed the possible delivery of Leopard tanks. I must say that there is no consensus on this issue," Pistorius told reporters.

According to the minister, there are "good arguments" both for and against the supply of German tanks to Ukraine, and they all need to be "very carefully weighed.

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"We cannot say when and what decision will be made on the Leopard tanks," he stressed.

The minister said that earlier today he had appointed an inspection of this type of tanks to assess the scenario for a positive decision on supplies to Kiev, stressing at the same time that Germany has obligations to pay attention to its own army and its condition.

The minister promised to continue deliveries of weapons and equipment to Ukraine "in unchanged form" and listed the upcoming deliveries of air defense systems Patriot and IRIS-T, infantry fighting vehicles Marder and self-propelled antiaircraft gun Gepard, and also announced the training of Ukrainian soldiers in servicing these weapons.