A Marder armoured infantry fighting vehicle of the German army Bundeswehr is pictured at Rukla military base
(Picture: REUTERS)Germany has authorised the delivery of tanks to Ukraine following weeks of denying that it would supply lethal aid.
Defence minister Christina Lambrecht announced the move on Tuesday afternoon at Ramstein air base, where a conference on the war in Ukraine is being hosted by US officials.
“We decided yesterday that Germany will facilitate the delivery of Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine,” Ms Lambrecht said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has come under mounting pressure to supply Ukraine with weapons following London and Washington’s commitment to arm Kyiv.
Britain and the US have already supplied anti-tank weapons including Javelin missiles, with Washington announcing a fresh package of aid during a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kyiv on Monday.
German defense company KraussMaffei Wegmann will be allowed to sell the “Gepard” tanks from previous Bundeswehr stocks, the dpa news agency reported. The firm had previously said it could supply 50 Gepards to Ukraine “quickly” if authorised by ministers.
Berlin could also donate 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles if approved by the Bundestag, a government spokesperson told Reuters.
Developed in the 1960s, the “Gepard” is equipped with two 35mm cannons which are capable of downing aircraft and cruise missiles. They can also be used on ground targets and drones.
Ms Lambrecht wrote in a letter to the ruling coalition last week that export requests to Ukraine “will be checked with absolute priority. After coordination in the cabinet, they will be decided the same day as a general rule.”
Mr Scholz has also faced criticism for refusing to agree to an embargo on Russian oil and gas, on which Germany is heavily dependent. He has previously claimed that supplying heavy weaponry to Ukraine could spark a nuclear war with Russia.
On Sunday, finance minister Christian Lindner said Germany needed to do “everything in our power” to help Ukraine but stressed that they would not “endanger our own security.”
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov ratcheted up tensions further by suggesting the risk of nuclear war was “serious”.
“The risks are now considerable,” he told state television on Monday evening. “I would not want to elevate those risks artificially. Many would like that. The danger is serious, real. And we must not underestimate it.”
