Scholz is likely to reject Ukraine’s request to provide tanks – Welt

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal's request for additional heavy weapons

The German publication Welt reports.

What was meant, in particular, was that he rejected to provide the most modern Leopard 2 tanks by German industry.

The basis for this was the offer from the arms group Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) dated April 8 regarding direct delivery to Ukraine.

At that time, the company had already agreed to supply Ukraine with 100 Leopard 2A7 tanks, including spare parts and training units for soldiers, for a total of 1.55 billion euros.

Therefore, the first tanks could be delivered 36 months after the conclusion of the contract.

However, Scholz did not promise such supplies but rather remained "general and non-specific" in his conversation with Shmyhal. The publication's source said that the chancellor had shown "no desire at all" to change his negative position regarding the supply of tanks.

In response to Welt's request, the Sholtz government reported that they would not stop supporting Ukraine in military, political, financial, and humanitarian terms.

"We ask for your understanding as we generally do not report confidential discussions," said a spokeswoman for the chancellor's office.

Shmyhal, before he visited Germany, called on the federal government to supply battle tanks to the Ukrainian military to repel russian attackers.

During his visit to Berlin, he also discussed arms supplies to Ukraine with the President of Germany.

As Rubryka reported, on September 4, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, during a visit to Berlin, discussed arms supplies to Ukraine with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The Ukrainian government official also emphasized the need to increase the supply of heavy military equipment by allies.

"The MARS II rocket launchers and the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery systems, which Germany transferred, have performed well on the battlefield. We hope to increase the supply of heavy weapons.

In addition, the transfer of the state-of-the-art German-made air defense system IRIS-T is expected in the fall. At the same time, we hope that Germany will become one of the leaders in the process of building air defense," the press service of the Government Portal emphasized.