Germany will not stand in the way if Poland wants to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the German foreign minister said, signaling a possible turnaround for Ukraine as it seeks to bolster its forces in the face of an expected new Russian offensive.

Eleven months after the Russian invasion, the fighting is concentrated in Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Wagner’s Russian mercenaries and Ukrainian forces have engaged in a battle of attrition.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday said for the second day in a row that its forces were improving their positions in southern Zaporozhye, although a Ukrainian military spokesman told state television that the situation there was “difficult” but stable.

Ukrainian officials have been urging Western allies for months to supply them with modern German-made tanks, but Germany has not sent them or allowed other NATO countries to do so.

The Leopard tanks, which are in service with a number of NATO countries but require Berlin’s approval to transfer to Ukraine, are considered by defense experts to be the most suitable for Ukraine.

Last week, Western allies promised Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, but failed to persuade Germany to lift its veto on tank deliveries.

But in a clear reversal of Germany’s position, Foreign Minister Analena Burbock said her government would not prevent Poland from sending Leopard 2 tanks without German approval.

“At the moment the question has not been asked, but in that case we will not interfere,” she told French TV channel LCI when asked about her government’s reaction to any such decision by Poland.

At the same time, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that he expects a decision on the supply of tanks to Ukraine in the near future, but this will happen.

Speaking in an interview with German broadcaster ARD, Pistorius said that Germany will not make hasty decisions because the government needs to take into account many factors, including internal security implications for the German population.

Earlier Sunday, Poland said it would send its German-made tanks to Ukraine even if Germany didn’t, and announced it would take a diplomatic initiative in Europe if Berlin didn’t.

“We will not sit back and watch Ukraine bleed,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote.

Meanwhile, Germany has been under intense pressure to release the Leopards to Ukraine, but Chancellor Olaf Solz’s Social Democratic Party has traditionally been skeptical of military intervention and wary of sudden moves that could escalate relations with Russia.

Burbock’s remarks seem to go beyond Scholz’s remarks at the Paris summit on Sunday that all arms transfer decisions would be made in coordination with allies, including the United States.

Ukraine says the heavily armored tanks will give its ground forces greater mobility and protection in the face of a new Russian offensive expected in the coming months.

However, Germany appears to have linked any such contribution to a corresponding US move to send Abrams tanks, which US officials say they are reluctant to do because the vehicles are difficult to maintain.

“Terrible War”

On Sunday, U.S. lawmakers demanded their administration export M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, saying even sending a notional number would be enough to force European allies to do the same.

The UK recently announced it would supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks. Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said on Sunday that he still wants an international deal to supply German-made tanks.

French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, said he did not rule out sending Leclerc tanks to Ukraine.

Last week, a Kremlin spokesman said Western supplies of more tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict, but would create additional problems for the Ukrainian people.

A close associate of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that the supply of offensive weapons to Kyiv that would threaten Russian territory would lead to a global catastrophe and render arguments against the use of weapons of mass destruction untenable.

The speaker of the lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, warned that US and NATO support for Ukraine is leading the world to a “terrible war.”

Fronts of the war

In war-torn eastern Ukraine, a senior Russian-appointed official in the occupied parts of Donetsk region said late Sunday that he had visited Solentar, which Russia says was captured this month.

Denis Pushilin published a short video on Telegram, in which he rides and walks among deserted territories and destroyed buildings.

On Jan. 11, the private Russian military group Wagner claimed to have taken over Solentar, and Russian-appointed authorities in the Donetsk region said last week they controlled the salt city.

Ukraine has never publicly stated that the city was captured by Russian troops. On Sunday, the General Staff of the Kyiv Armed Forces said at a daily briefing that Russian forces had opened fire on Ukrainian positions in the area.

Source: Reuters.