04:05Germany: 'There has always been further escalation' - MPs clash on Leopard tank delivery to Ukraine
Bundestag members were left divided on Leopard tank deliveries to Ukraine after Berlin announced on Wednesday it would supply Kiev with 14 Leopard 2.
"This decision is right. We think it is appropriate," said Fiedrich Merz, Leader of the Christian Democratic Union party addressing the German Parliament in Berlin.
Dietmar Bartsch, co-chair of 'The Left' parliamentary group in Bundestag however criticised the announcement saying, "The Chancellor has just said in the government's briefing that we will do everything to prevent an escalation. But what is the reality if you look at the last eleven months? There has always been further escalation."
On Wednesday, the German government approved a decision to transfer 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr's stockpile to Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that the decision to supply was the result of 'intensive consultations' with allies and international partners.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Scholz on his official Telegram channel for his decision.
Moscow condemned the decision with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov calling the supply of tanks 'direct involvement in the conflict'.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
04:05Bundestag members were left divided on Leopard tank deliveries to Ukraine after Berlin announced on Wednesday it would supply Kiev with 14 Leopard 2.
"This decision is right. We think it is appropriate," said Fiedrich Merz, Leader of the Christian Democratic Union party addressing the German Parliament in Berlin.
Dietmar Bartsch, co-chair of 'The Left' parliamentary group in Bundestag however criticised the announcement saying, "The Chancellor has just said in the government's briefing that we will do everything to prevent an escalation. But what is the reality if you look at the last eleven months? There has always been further escalation."
On Wednesday, the German government approved a decision to transfer 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr's stockpile to Ukraine.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasised that the decision to supply was the result of 'intensive consultations' with allies and international partners.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Scholz on his official Telegram channel for his decision.
Moscow condemned the decision with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov calling the supply of tanks 'direct involvement in the conflict'.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.