Germany will send tanks to Ukraine if US agrees to do same
Germany will send German-made tanks to Ukraine so long as the United States agrees to do likewise, a government source in Berlin told Reuters, as Nato partners remained out of step over how best to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Ukraine has pleaded for modern Western weapons, especially heavy battle tanks, so it can regain momentum following some battlefield successes in the second half of 2022 against Russian forces that invaded last February.
Berlin has veto power over any decision to export its Leopard tanks, fielded by NATO-allied armies across Europe and seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Several times in recent days, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed, behind closed doors, the condition that U.S. tanks should also be sent to Ukraine, the German government source said on condition of anonymity.
When asked about Germany’s stance, U.S. President Joe Biden’s spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The president believes that each country should make their own sovereign decisions on what steps of security assistance and what kinds of equipment they are able to provide Ukraine.”
Key events
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, has been threatening nuclear war again on Telegram. Medvedev has been deputy chairman of the security council of Russia since 2020, and has previously held the roles of both president and prime minister of Russia. On Telegram he said:
Tomorrow, at Nato’s Ramstein base, the great military leaders will discuss new tactics and strategies, as well as the supply of new heavy weapons and strike systems to Ukraine. And this was right after the forum in Davos, where underdeveloped political party-goers repeated like a mantra: “To achieve peace, Russia must lose.”
And it never occurs to any of them to draw the following elementary conclusion from this: the loss of a nuclear power in a conventional war can provoke the outbreak of a nuclear war. The nuclear powers did not lose major conflicts on which their fate depends. But this should be obvious to anyone. Even to a western politician who has retained at least some trace of intelligence.
While Russia’s nuclear doctrine restricts the use of the weapons to a limited set of circumstances, one of the circumstances is “situations critical to the national security of the Russian Federation.”
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia has reported on Telegram that the “outbuilding of a private household” and “a private house in which no one lived” have been destroyed by Ukrainian fire over the border into his region. He stated that “There are no victims or injured.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne is reporting that Yaroslav Yanushevych, Ukraine’s governor of the partially-occupied Kherson region, which the Russian Federation claims to have annexed, has said that the region was shelled multiple times and four people were injured as a result yesterday.
It reports he said “On 18 January, the Russian army shelled the Kherson region 56 times with artillery, anti-aircraft guns, and mortars, wounding four people. Kherson was shelled 19 times. Shells hit an educational institution and houses.”
Germany will send tanks to Ukraine if US agrees to do same
Germany will send German-made tanks to Ukraine so long as the United States agrees to do likewise, a government source in Berlin told Reuters, as Nato partners remained out of step over how best to arm Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Ukraine has pleaded for modern Western weapons, especially heavy battle tanks, so it can regain momentum following some battlefield successes in the second half of 2022 against Russian forces that invaded last February.
Berlin has veto power over any decision to export its Leopard tanks, fielded by NATO-allied armies across Europe and seen by defence experts as the most suitable for Ukraine.
Several times in recent days, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed, behind closed doors, the condition that U.S. tanks should also be sent to Ukraine, the German government source said on condition of anonymity.
When asked about Germany’s stance, U.S. President Joe Biden’s spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The president believes that each country should make their own sovereign decisions on what steps of security assistance and what kinds of equipment they are able to provide Ukraine.”
British, Polish and Baltic defence ministers to meet
Dan Sabbagh
The British and Polish defence ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Baltic states in Estonia, in a Ramstein today pre-meeting – ahead of a wider defence summit on Friday – designed to put further pressure on Germany to move forward with sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
But there are signs that London’s manoeuvres are irritating Berlin. A German government source told Reuters that the UK appeared to be ignoring Berlin’s recent decision to provide a Patriot missile defence system and 40 Marder fighting vehicles.
Accusing the UK of acting in response to “internal political pressure”, government sources added that leaning on allies was “not helpful”. They added: “The delivery of tanks to Ukraine is not taboo. But such questions will continue to be clarified in transatlantic lockstep”:
Wednesday’s crash outside Kyiv came as the head of NATO said at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos that allies were set to provide “heavier weapons” to the war-battered country.
Ukraine did not claim direct Russian involvement in the helicopter crash, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the tragedy was a consequence of the war.
“There are no accidents at war. These are all war results,” Zelensky said in English, appearing by video link at Davos.
Kyiv investigating fatal helicopter crash
The helicopter carrying Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky crashed next to a kindergarten and a residential building in Brovary, a commuter town for the capital Kyiv that was the scene of fierce fighting with Russian forces last year, AFP reports.
Fourteen people were killed, including Monastyrsky, other ministry officials and a child, Zelensky said in his evening address to the nation. Another 25 people were wounded, including 11 children. He added that an investigation had been opened “to clarify all the circumstances of the disaster”.
“Minister Denys Monastyrsky, (his deputy) Yevhen Yenin and their colleagues who died in the crash are not people who can be easily replaced,” Zelensky said. “It is a truly huge loss for the state. My condolences to the families.”
Dmytro Serbyn, who was in his apartment when the helicopter crashed, rushed to help children as soon as he saw flames billowing over the kindergarten.
“They were looking for their parents, children were crying … their faces were cut and covered in blood,” Serbyn told AFP.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest for the next few hours.
Our top story this morning: Ukrainian authorities on Thursday were investigating the circumstances surrounding a helicopter crash that killed the country’s interior minister and 13 others.
And coming up today, the British and Polish defence ministers will meet with their counterparts from the Baltic states in Estonia, in a Ramstein pre-meeting designed to put further pressure on Germany to move forward with the Leopard 2s.
Here are the other key recent developments:
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stepped up calls for Ukraine’s army to be supplied with heavy tanks and urged “resolve and speed” of decision-making from western allies. Addressing a packed gathering at the World Economic Forum in Davos via video link on Wednesday, Ukraine’s president warned that “tyranny is outpacing democracy”.
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Nato countries are set to announce new “heavier weapons” for Ukraine, the alliance’s chief has said. Many of Ukraine’s allies will meet on Friday at the Ramstein military base in Germany, including all 30 Nato members. ting vehicles, while France offered its highly mobile AMX-10 RCs.
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The European Union’s head also spoke in favour of the west providing tanks to Ukraine. “We, the EU, will continue to support them for as long as it takes,” Charles Michel, the European Council president, said on Wednesday. “The time is now – they urgently need more equipment and I am personally in favour of supplying tanks to Ukraine.”
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Germany’s chancellor avoided committing to the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Olaf Scholz did not mention the Leopard tanks when a Ukrainian delegate asked him “why the hesitancy” in signing off their re-export at the Davos summit.
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Canada announced it would donate 200 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine. The move came during a visit to Kyiv by Canada’s defence minister, Anita Anand. Zelenskiy thanked the Canadian people and its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, “on this difficult day”.
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Bulgaria helped Ukraine survive Russia’s early onslaught by secretly supplying it with large amounts of desperately needed diesel and ammunition, the politicians responsible have said.
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Poland’s president has warned that Russia could be planning a new offensive in the coming months, calling on countries to provide Ukraine with “weapons, weapons, weapons”.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy has written a letter inviting the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, for talks, which was handed to the Chinese delegation in Davos, said the Ukrainian leader’s wife, Olena Zelenska.
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Ukraine reported intense fighting overnight in the east of the country, where both sides have taken huge losses for little gain in intense trench warfare over the past two months.
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Vladimir Putin has said he has “no doubt” that Russia’s victory in Ukraine is “inevitable”. He announced that Russia’s military-industrial complex was ramping up production during a visit to a factory in St Petersburg.
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Four people have been detained by Moscow police at a makeshift memorial dedicated to victims of Saturday’s deadly missile strike on a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, according to a report.