Poland Counts On Germany's Prompt Response To Tanks For Ukraine Request - Prime Minister

Poland hopes that it will not take Germany long to respond to Warsaw's request to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2023) Poland hopes that it will not take Germany long to respond to Warsaw's request to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Tuesday.

Last week, Poland announced that it was ready to transfer up to 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of the international coalition. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Monday that Warsaw had requested permission from Germany to send the tanks to Ukraine. On Tuesday, Berlin confirmed it had received the request.

"I hope that Germany will respond quickly this time, because Germany is delaying, postponing, dragging (things) out, acting in a way that is difficult to understand. We clearly see that they do not want to help ... Ukraine extensively," Morawiecki told reporters.

He also wondered about the reasons why Germany is not supplying weapons to Ukraine as actively as Poland.

"What does it mean? Fear or unclear concerns, or confidence in the possibility of restoring normal relations with Russia?" Morawiecki added.

Last week, Morawiecki said that Warsaw could transfer its Leopard tanks to Ukraine without Germany's consent.

In April 2022, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev after Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that pumping Ukraine with weapons was not conducive to peace negotiations and would have a detrimental effect on the conflict.