German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, put forward a condition for the supply of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine - if Washington also decides on the supply of its Abrams tanks.
This is stated in the material of the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The publication does not provide details of the discussion between the two leaders, and notes that Biden apparently did not make any commitments during the conversation.
"Apparently, the US is demanding from the chancellor not only to allow other countries to supply Leopard 2 battle tanks, if Germany participates in such supplies, but also to supply a certain number of tanks themselves," the article says.
Recently, the pressure on Germany from other EU countries has increased significantly, because the Leopard 2 tanks are German-made, and therefore Berlin has to agree to their re-export. It is expected that a relevant decision can be made before the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine this Friday.
It will be recalled that last week Poland announced that it is ready to hand over a company of Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine as part of a coalition with partners. But on Friday, the German government said that it had not yet received an official request from Poland to supply the Leopard main battle tank to Ukraine.
At the same time, according to Bloomberg sources, the German federal government may announce a decision to supply Western tanks to Ukraine this week.
Ukraine is particularly interested in receiving Leopard tanks, as there are more than 2,000 of them in Europe, and they are in service with 13 countries. But their re-export requires permission from Berlin, and Germany is concerned about the danger of an escalation of the conflict.
