The German government has denounced an agreement to participate in the construction of a repair center in Poland for tanks that it sent to Ukraine, the financial newspaper Handelsblatt wrote on Wednesday, as cited by Reuters.

Several sources close to the file told Handelsblatt on condition of anonymity that the announcement would be made public in the coming days and that the decision was made because Olaf Scholz’s government considered the Polish side’s cost estimate too high.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on April 23 that Germany, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement to establish a hub in Poland to repair Leopard tanks, which are used in Ukraine to fight Russian forces.

At the time, Pistorius said all parties had agreed on how to finance the hub, which would cost around €150-200 million. At the time, he also said that the hub could be operational as early as the end of May, but in the meantime, negotiations seem to have reached an impasse.

Companies from Germany and Poland, as well as the governments of the two countries, were involved in the talks, with Handelsblatt’s sources saying the main problems came from the companies.

The Ministry of Defense of Germany did not want to comment on the information.

In early July, Boris Pistorius visited Poland to discuss plans for the hub with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mariusz Blaszczak. During his visit on July 3, he said that the repairs must be completed within 10 days for Berlin to decide “in which direction to plan.”

Germany announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine

The information that is now being distributed by the German press appeared immediately before the meeting between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Before the meeting, Zelenskyi said that he expects “good news” from Sholtz.

He later reported that Germany had agreed to supply Ukraine with additional launchers and missiles for the Patriot air defense system. Germany is one of the two countries that supplied Ukraine with a Patriot battery, the other being the USA.

“This is extremely important for protecting the lives of Ukrainians from Russian terror,” Zelenskyy wrote in Telegram after meeting with the German chancellor.

His comments came just a day after the German government announced the completion of a new military aid package to Ukraine, which will include two Patriot batteries from Bundeswehr stockpiles, 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 25 more Leopard 1 tanks and 5 Bergenpanzer 2 tanks.

In May, the German government approved the largest military aid package it has prepared for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion, totaling $2.7 billion.

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