BERLIN, February 8. /TASS/. Germany won’t participate in the competition to raise stakes when it comes to decision on providing weapons to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech at the Bundestag on Wednesday.

"What harms our unity is a public competition to outdo each other along the lines of: battle tanks, submarines, aircraft - who is asking for more?" he said. "What is harmful is flamboyant domestic political statements, criticism of partners and allies on the open stage. Germany won’t be part of that."

Scholz said the decision to send German-made Leopard tanks to Kiev had been reached in the course of confidential talks with the US.

"We won’t make decisions that will make NATO a party to the conflict," he went on to say. "It’s not NATO that’s at war with Russia."

According to the chancellor, Russia must "end the war, the sooner, the better for Ukraine, for Russia and for the entire world." Scholz asserted that Russia "won’t reach its goals either of the battlefield" or by making peace on its terms.

Germany on Tuesday approved the donation of 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev. The vehicles will be drawn from industrial inventories. The first shipments of Leopard 1 tanks could be delivered to Ukraine this summer, but most of them are unlikely to be supplied before 2024. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Ukraine would get more than 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks from several European countries. Kiev could get 20 to 25 tanks by summer, and up to 80 by the end of the year. The goal is to provide Ukraine with more than 100 tanks by the first or second quarter of 2024, according to the minister.

Germany said on January 25 it will be sending 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries to reexport these vehicles. According to Pistorius, the Leopard 2 tanks will be shipped to Ukraine before the end of March. Plans to supply Western-made tanks to Kiev have also been announced by the UK, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and France. Kiev expects to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 states for a start. Ukraine is now requesting Germany to supply combat aircraft and submarines.