MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine reveals Europe’s dependence and shows that Kiev’s current position on the front causes serious concern in the United States, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Tuesday.

"German media report that Chancellor Scholz has decided to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. It is another evidence of how blind and dependent Europe is becoming. <…> Probably, the current situation the Kiev regime is in on the battlefield causes serious concern of its string-pullers, if it has come to such weapons, the sending of which is seriously weakening the US’ German allies militarily," Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma (lower parliament house), wrote on his Telegram channel.

He voiced doubt that the new weapons could help Ukraine. "His (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s) yes-men earlier staked on Javelins and HIMARS’. But their supplies to Ukraine have not forced Russia to stop its special operation and the bulk of these weapons has already been destroyed in battle. Leopards will share their fate," he added.

Germany’s Der Spiegel reported earlier that Scholz had decided to supply Ukraine with at least one company of Leopard 2 tanks and to approve similar supplies of German-made weapons from other countries, in particular, from Poland.