Germany has asked Switzerland to sell it partially mothballed Leopard 2 tanks, a deal that could allow Germany and other countries to increase military aid to Ukraine, the Swiss government said.
Germany wants Switzerland to sell some of the tanks back to manufacturer Rheinmetall, which would allow the company to fill the arms gap for EU and NATO members.
Countries such as Germany, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden sent Leopard tanks to help Ukraine fend off Russian attacks, creating gaps in their own arsenals.
A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry said Germany would not send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine unless Switzerland agreed.
“There are existing and evaluated contractual provisions,” the spokesman said when asked at a regular news conference how Berlin could guarantee this.
Earlier, there was a dispute within Germany over whether it should provide Ukraine with Leopard main battle tanks. At that time, Western countries, including the United States, did not provide tank support to Kiev. Germany hesitated to do so itself. After that, Germany asked Washington to do the same. Although Biden denied that he had pressured Scholz to change his mind about sending German tanks, the weeks of negotiations have served as a reminder that Germany needs its biggest tanks. allies.
Biden publicly praised Chancellor Scholz’s “strong commitment” to Ukraine and praised Germany for “taking incremental steps to support Ukraine”.Return to Sohu to see more
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