INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian officials warned of a possible escalation in its war on Ukraine as Germany agreed to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine following weeks
said it will provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr stocks and is also granting approval for other European
countries to send tanks from their own stocks to Ukraine."The aim is to quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for
process of arming Ukraine with the advanced battle vehicles."The first step on tanks has been taken
media, referring to other countries such as Poland that have said they would also send the tanks with Berlin's approval.Britain, France and
Poland similarly hailed Germany's move following the announcement.Ukraine has called on its allies in the West to supply it with advanced
tanks as they predict a fresh offensive by invading Russian forces in the spring.But Berlin and Washington have been hesitant to meet Kyiv's
requests.German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had reportedly come under increasing pressure from his Green and Free Democrat government coalition
partners to approve the tank delivery for Ukraine in recent days.The decision also was preceded by intensive discussions with Germany's U.S
allies, according to a Tuesday report by Der Spiegel, as Scholz was determined not to go ahead with the transfer unless the U.S
opposition to supplying Ukraine with Abrams tanks, while Reuters reported that France was ready to supply Kyiv with its own tanks.The
German-made Leopard 2 is seen as one of the best-performing models worldwide and is used across Europe, meaning spare parts and ammunition
take several weeks to give troops basic training on the equipment, which is more complex than the Soviet-era tanks they are used to.Experts
destroyed on the battlefield if sent to Ukraine."Technologically, this is a failed plan
This is an overestimation of the potential that this will add to the Ukrainian army
These tanks burn like all the rest
They are just very expensive," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.AFP contributed reporting.
