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PM says Poland wants allies to send up to 100 tanks to Ukraine

19.01.2023 10:00
Poland is working to persuade European allies to send up to 100 battle tanks to support Ukraine's war effort against invading Russian forces, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said.
Mateusz Morawiecki
Mateusz MorawieckiPAP/Radek Pietruszka

The Polish prime minister told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that his country had earmarked 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks and was waiting for other European Union members, including Germany, to also provide such weaponry to Kyiv.

Germany "created lots of uncertainty and instability" in Europe "with their policy of dependency on Russian gas" and “should now feel more responsible to support Ukraine," Morawiecki said in the interview.

He added that he spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz "several weeks ago and tried to encourage him to do more."

Morawiecki said in the interview that the government in Warsaw wanted to “inspire others” to send as many as 100 tanks so “we can make a difference in the battlefield in Ukraine,” the Bloomberg news agency reported.

The Polish prime minister also told Bloomberg that he was pushing for more EU sanction packages against Russia "because this is the only way how we can end this war in a peaceful and stabilizing manner."

In another interview on the sidelines of this year's gathering of global political and business leaders in Davos, Morawiecki told US broadcaster CNN that it was "critically important" that the Germans "finally give their part of heavy artillery and in particular heavy and modern tanks” to support Ukraine.

Thursday is day 330 of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 

(gs)

Source: PAP, bloomberg.com