8 Feb 2023, 05:27

German politician compares Leopard tank supplies to Kiev with hara-kiri

Dietmar Bartsch said the delivery, supported by Germany’s ruling coalition, makes the country a party to the conflict in Ukraine

BERLIN, February 8. /TASS/. A co-chair of The Left parliamentary group in the German parliament, Dietmar Bartsch, lashed at the German government’s decision to supply 178 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks to Ukraine, describing the move as ‘hara-kiri.’

Bartsch said the delivery, supported by Germany’s ruling coalition, makes the country a party to the conflict in Ukraine.

"Your tank ‘hara-kiri’ is being taken to the next level," the lawmaker was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency.

In his opinion, the ruling coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Greens is playing "a dangerous all-in game."

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense said late on Tuesday it had officially confirmed its decision to supply 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to the Kiev government. The first batch of the tanks is expected to reach Ukraine this summer, but the rest are unlikely to reach the country before 2024, according to Der Spiegel. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has confirmed that the Kiev government is to get over 100 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks from several European countries. Between 20 and 25 vehicles are to be delivered to Ukraine by this summer, and their number is to reach 80 by the end of the year. The goal is to provide Ukraine with over 100 tanks by the first or second quarter of 2024.

On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany’s military stockpiles to Ukraine and issue permits to other countries for their re-export. According to Pistorius, the tanks will be delivered before "the end of March." The UK, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and France said they would send their tanks to Ukraine as well. The Kiev regime hopes to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 countries in the first batch.

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