- Poland wants to send German-made battle tanks to Ukraine.
- But Germany has been reluctant to approve sending tanks or allowing other countries to do so.
As NATO countries continues to press Germany to green light sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine, something it has so far been unwilling to do, Poland has suggested that it may take matters into its own hands.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that his country might send the German-made tanks to Kyiv without Berlin's approval on the transfer. "Consent is a secondary issue here," he told a Polish radio outlet while on his way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, according to POLITICO.
"We will either get this agreement quickly, or we will do the right thing ourselves," he said. "Here, the most important thing is that the Germans … offer their modern tanks, their modern equipment, as soon as possible, because the ability to defend freedom in Ukraine may depend on it, and so the security of all Europe will depend on it."
Morawiecki's comments on Thursday came a little over a week after Polish President Andrzej Duda said that it is Poland's wish that "a company of Leopard tanks for Ukraine will be handed over" as part of an international coalition. Last year, Poland sent hundreds of Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukraine, but those tanks, while capable, are not nearly as desirable as the German-made main battle tanks.
Speaking in western Ukraine's Lviv on January 11, Duda said the transfer of the Leopards — long sought-after by Kyiv — would still require working through a formal procedure and process. Finland, an aspiring NATO member with Leopard tanks in its arsenal, has also indicated that it would send tanks as part of a coalition, but with German approval.
NATO countries have put pressure on Germany to send or approve the transfer of Leopard tanks, but without any progress. According to multiple reports, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that an authorization won't happen unless the US sends its own M1 Abrams tanks — something the Biden administration has shied away from.
Should the Leopards make their way to Ukraine, they would join a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks the UK has offered to send the Ukrainians. UK defense chief Ben Wallace announced this transfer of advanced Western armor on Monday as part of the country's "most significant package of combat power" for Ukraine so far.
The push to send tanks to Ukraine comes just weeks after a few NATO allies — the US, Germany, and France — signaled their intention to send Western-made armored vehicles to Kyiv, giving the Ukrainians a significant boost in firepower and ground combat capability.
This heavy armor could help Ukrainian forces make advances as they face a slow-moving and grinding fight against Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region.