Berlin has no immediate plans to send German-made Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is part of Germany’s ruling coalition, has said.
Despite announcing the delivery of 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and a US-made Patriot air defense battery to Kiev earlier this week, Berlin has been under pressure to do even more for Kiev in its conflict with Moscow, and also provide heavy armor.
Klingbeil told the N-TV broadcaster on Saturday that supplying Leopard tanks to Ukraine would require coordination with foreign allies, and cannot happen unilaterally.
“No country is delivering heavy battle tanks such as the Leopard 1 or 2” to Zelensky’s government, he explained.
However, the SPD co-leader didn’t rule German deliveries of heavy armor to Ukraine in the future.