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Poland formally requests German permission to send Leopard tanks to Kiev

It is noted that the security of all of Europe is at stake

WARSAW, January 24. /TASS/. Warsaw has formally requested Berlin’s permission to send Leopard tanks to Kiev, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

"Germany has already received our request to approve the handover of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine," he said.

"I also call on Germany to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine by sending Leopard 2 tanks. It is our common cause because the security of all of Europe is at stake," the Polish defense chief noted.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday that Germany was acting in coordination with its allies on tank supplies to Ukraine. On January 20, a meeting of defense chiefs from about 50 countries took place at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Boris Pistorius, Scholz’s defense minister, said afterwards that the meeting’s participants had not made a decision on sending Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said earlier that if Berlin refused to hand armored vehicles over to Ukraine, Warsaw would form an alternative coalition of countries willing to provide tanks to Kiev. According to him, Poland has already decided to send up to 14 tanks to Ukraine and will act regardless of Germany's position.

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Ukraine crisis Germany Poland

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