The United States on Monday defended Germany’s commitment to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, highlighting the possibility that in the coming hours or days it will grant permission to third countries to deliver German-made Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian Army.
«We have no doubt that Germany is a reliable ally on this front and on all fronts,» U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price has asserted at a press conference.
Asked about the discussion in recent weeks about Germany’s refusal to deliver its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the State Department spokesman noted that, after seeing the latest headlines regarding this issue, «it is possible» that more will be «heard» from the Germans in the coming hours or days.
In this regard, he assured that many people would not have believed all the contribution made so far by Germany if they had known about it the day the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, on February 24, 2022.
Therefore, he listed some of the systems that Germany has provided to date, which include, among others, the IRIS-T anti-missile system, the MLRS rocket launcher systems, the Patriot missile battery, in addition to «everything else that Germany has talked about in the last 11 months.»
In this regard, Price pointed out that «Ukraine has tanks», stating that he does not want there to be a «mistaken» perception that the Ukrainian Army does not have such weaponry.
He has also brought to the present that the United States has already helped Ukraine obtain tanks. «We have worked with them to obtain Russian and Soviet-made tanks that they are already trained on, they know how to use them, they can use them right away, they can repair them, they can keep them operational and most importantly, they can be effective with them,» Price has said.
«We will continue to do our part to provide Ukraine with what it needs,» the State Department spokesman said, recalling that it has given weaponry to the Ukrainian military on as many as 30 occasions, all worth billions of dollars.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)