Poland has officially requested permission from Germany to transfer its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
Berlin has received Warsaw’s request, Blaszczak said in a post on Twitter, although German officials have not yet confirmed this information.
“I also call on the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. This is our common cause, because it is about the security of all of Europe!”, added the Polish Minister of Defense.
The German government is divided
The German government is divided, Olaf Scholz refuted his own foreign minister about the “leopards”, notes the British “Daily Telegraph”.
The publication draws attention to the fact that on Sunday Foreign Minister Analena Berbok said that Germany would not prevent Poland from re-exporting Leopard tanks to Ukraine, and yesterday a spokesman for the chancellor insisted that Warsaw would have to follow “established procedures”. , if he wants to provide German tanks to Kyiv.
The pressure from the NATO allies on Scholz to agree to the sending of the machines is increasing. Some even warn that if Berlin continues to show reluctance to give the green light for the tanks, it could cast doubt on Germany’s “reliability” as one of the main guarantors of European security, the “Daily Telegraph” emphasizes.
There will be tanks, there will be no tanks: what is happening to Germany? This is what Washington Post commentator Ishaan Tharoor asks rhetorically in the title of an analytical article.
The author of the article notes that at a time when Ukraine and its allies are talking hard about the need for accelerated aid to Kyiv, Germany is seen as a hesitant European partner.
The article also says that Berlin is stumbling at a time of impressive geopolitical unity among the countries of the West.
Germany’s reluctance to provide tanks to Ukraine threatens future sales to the German military industry and European defense cooperation, warn representatives of the Polish and Slovak authorities and people from the defense industry, quoted by the Financial Times.
According to them, Berlin’s position on the issue destroys confidence in Germany as a partner and threatens the future of joint projects in the defense sector, which are so strongly encouraged at the moment by the EU and NATO.
The “Financial Times” writes that Berlin’s position on the tanks reinforces its isolation in relation to the conflict in Ukraine.
Will Germany be the first in the tank dispute, asks the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The publication notes that today in Berlin there will be a meeting between NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, at which this issue will also be discussed.
The newspaper commented that, internationally, concern regarding Chancellor Scholz’s hesitations is growing, and at the same time, the dispute surrounding the provision of Leopard tanks to Ukraine is beginning to weigh on the ruling coalition in Berlin.
Kyiv reports heavy fighting in the eastern districts of Bakhmut and Avdeevka
Russian occupation forces and Ukrainian troops are again fighting fiercely around the frontline towns of Bakhmut and Avdeyevka in eastern Ukraine, DPA reported, citing a statement from the Ukrainian General Staff in Kyiv.
According to the announcement made this evening, the Russian attacks were repulsed with heavy losses.
As part of its effort to retake the entire Donetsk region, the Russian army attacked “without regard for its own losses,” it said.
There is no independent confirmation of these messages, DPA notes.
Meanwhile, the Russian military reported an increase in fighting in the central Zaporozhye region.
After the advance of Russian units, a regrouping and repositioning of units from the Ukrainian side has been observed in recent days, TASS reported.
Russia went on the offensive in southern Ukrainewhile Kyiv is waiting for weapons, writes the Wall Street Journal.
The American publication notes that fighting in Ukraine’s strategic southern regions, particularly in the Zaporozhye region, has intensified, with Moscow reporting an advance of its forces in that region, while Kyiv awaits heavier weaponry from its Western allies.
The newspaper commented that Russia has given indications of its intention to seize the initiative on the battlefield with a new offensive, and Western and Ukrainian analysts have signaled the increasing importance of the Zaporozhye region. It consists in the fact that a successful Ukrainian offensive there could cut the connection between the territories under Russian control and, accordingly, the connection between the Russian troops in Eastern and Southern Ukraine. Such an offensive would also lead to the severing of the land link between Russia and Crimea. Conversely, if Russian forces advance into the Zaporozhye region, this would improve the supply situation for Russian troops in southern Ukraine and give them the opportunity for further offensive actions in Ukrainian territories.
Lukashenko said Ukraine had offered Minsk a non-aggression pact
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said today that Ukraine has offered the two countries to sign a non-aggression pact, Reuters reported, citing the Belarusian state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko announced the proposal during a meeting of government and law enforcement officials, where he also accused the West of arming militants in Ukraine who could potentially destabilize the situation in Belarus.
Russian President Dmitry Peskov’s spokesman declined to comment on the information. “No, for now I cannot comment on this, I have no information,” Peskov said in response to a journalist’s question.
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 22 people linked to the Russian Orthodox Church
Ukraine has imposed sanctions on 22 Russians linked to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) over what the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky described as their support for genocide, Reuters reported.
According to the decree issued by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the list includes Mykhailo Gundyaev, who represents the Russian Orthodox Church at the World Council of Churches and other international organizations in Geneva. Russian state media reports that Gundyaev is the nephew of Patriarch Kirill, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church.
Last year, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the Russian patriarch himself.
The sanctions are the latest in a series of steps Ukraine is taking against the Russian Orthodox Church, which supported President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.
“Sanctions have been imposed against 22 Russian citizens who, under the guise of religion, support terror and the policy of genocide,” Zelensky said in his address late yesterday. He added that the punitive measures are taken in order to strengthen the spiritual independence of the country.
The majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, and there is fierce competition between the historically Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
