BERLIN, February 3. /TASS/. Germany is cautious in its decisions on arms supplies to Ukraine, as it is doing its best to prevent an escalation of the Russia-NATO standoff, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said.
During a meeting with residents of Marburg on Thursday, aired by local television, the German leader was asked whether it was true that the country would not send its soldiers and fighter jets to Ukraine.
"We carefully weighed all our decisions and pondered on how to prevent an escalation of tensions, to prevent the conflict from becoming a war between Russia and NATO. It would be terrible, and we are doing our best to prevent this escalation, and we bear responsibility for that," Scholz said.
"At the very beginning [of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine] everyone was calling for a no-fly zone [above Ukraine], but I opposed it, because it would have caused a rapid escalation of the conflict, in which NATO planes would have to fight Russian planes. We don’t want that," he added.
Last week, Scholz announced that Berlin would send 14 Leopard tanks to Kiev, and issued re-export permissions to other countries willing to do the same.