Duda accused Germany of breaking the promise about tanks for Ukraine

Poland is disappointed that Germany did not keep its promise to supply Leopard tanks to replace the equipment sent to Ukraine, Duda said. The German Foreign Ministry assured in response

The German government broke its promise to supply Poland with Leopard tanks to replace military equipment sent to Ukraine, Warsaw is “very disappointed” with this situation, Polish President Andrzej Duda told Die Welt at a forum in Davos.

“Most of our tank arsenal in the Polish armed forces consists of German tanks of the Leopard type. Therefore, if Germany supported us, if we received a replacement in the form of a circular exchange, then we would be very happy,” the Polish president said, adding that “they did not fulfill this promise.”

Warsaw has sent a "large number" of tanks to Kyiv because the Polish authorities believe that this is their responsibility to Ukraine as a neighbor, Duda added. Poland hoped for support from NATO, the US and Germany, the president continued, explaining that such actions weaken the country's own defense potential. He noted that the German authorities are not helping Ukraine enough.

“First of all, it is Germany itself that should help Ukraine. Ukraine really needs this help very badly,” Duda stressed.

The circular exchange involves the provision of Soviet or Russian-made tanks by EU or NATO countries to Ukraine, since the Ukrainian military does not need to be trained to use them. Germany undertakes to provide a replacement for the transferred equipment

The Ambassador criticized Germany's "sluggish policy" towards Ukraine Politics

After criticizing the Polish president, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock assured that Berlin was unable to transfer heavy military equipment to Ukraine “at the touch of a button or at the snap of a finger,” especially not from Germany’s stocks. The equipment must be "available, repaired and ordered accordingly," she explained at a meeting with her Polish colleague Zbigniew Rau.

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“Therefore, it is important that we are in constant contact with each other so that there is no misunderstanding,” Burbock emphasized, assuring that Berlin is aware of Kyiv’s need for “massive military support”, and Germany is “involved and involved” in the process of transferring military equipment”, work is underway to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a large number of weapons, ammunition and heavy equipment.

Burbock stressed: "We are strengthening the eastern flank of NATO with German soldiers and equipment in the Baltic countries, as well as anti-aircraft missiles in Slovakia," the n-tv channel reports.

The Polish minister later said that he "took note" of the explanations of Burbock, who told him "a number of reasons" for the non-existent circular exchange of equipment and noted that the German authorities clearly wanted to solve the current problem.

Borrell called for the creation of the armed forces of the EU Politics

At the beginning of the week, Der Spiegel reported on problems in the supply of German tanks to Poland, citing sources. The interlocutors of the publication said that Poland delivered 240 Russian-made tanks to Ukraine.

Berlin signed a similar agreement on the circular exchange of military equipment with Prague, it was about the supply of 15 old-style Leopard 2 A4 tanks to the Czech Republic, in the summer the parties agreed to discuss the transfer of more modern Leopard 2 A7 + tanks, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said, Zeit reported.

Der Spiegel's interlocutors in Polish military circles indicated that Warsaw did not want to receive old-style tanks in exchange and intended to upgrade its arsenal with modern Leopard tanks that would not jeopardize the country's defense.

Scholz did not see any intention to change his position on Ukraine in a conversation with Putin Politics

At the end of April, the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, approved a document calling on the country's government to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine. 586 deputies supported the initiative, 100 refused to do so, seven more people abstained. The document speaks of the need to "continue and, if possible, accelerate the supply of necessary equipment to Ukraine, including the supply of heavy weapons and complex systems, and expand the sphere of circular exchange."

In early May, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, announced the lack of support for Kyiv from official Berlin, calling its policy "sluggish." Chancellor Olaf Scholz prefers to continue the policy of his predecessor, Angela Merkel, the diplomat believes: "to wait and see, and then make a decision - or not."