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Volodymyr Zelenskyy in May 2022
Photo: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE HANDOUT/EPA
That says Kyiv
At the Ukraine conference at the US air base in Ramstein, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received
no commitment for German Leopard 2 tanks - now
Selenskyj wants to continue fighting for it
.
During the talks, he heard a lot of understanding for the needs of Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, Zelenskyj said in his video message every evening.
"Yes, we will still have to fight for the supply of modern tanks, but every day we make it more obvious
that there is no alternative
to
opting
for tanks
." to free.
Ukrainian Defense Minister
Oleksiy Reznikov
also said after meeting his new German colleague Boris Pistorius that
talks on the Leopards 2
would continue.
He thanked the German government and the people for the military aid.
At the same time, he announced that
Ukrainian armed forces would train on Leopard 2 main battle tanks in Poland
.
"Countries that already have Leopard tanks can start training our tank crews," he told the Ukrainian version of US broadcaster Voice of America.
Resnikov describes the development of the training as a breakthrough and attributes the success to Poland's efforts.
International reactions
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has
praised Germany as a reliable partner
despite hesitations about supplying Ukraine with Leopard 2 main battle tanks
.
“Yes, they are a reliable ally.
They have been for a very, very long time," Austin said Friday in Ramstein after the Ukraine Contact Group meeting.
As a production country, Germany plays a key role in the issue of Leopard 2 deliveries.
A transfer to the Ukraine by other countries must be approved by the federal government.
Austin
stressed that
no single weapon system was critical
to Ukraine's military success .
The Ukrainians had received a package with large military capabilities - including armored personnel carriers from the United States and other countries.
If used properly, these tools could lead to success.
According to the AFP news agency, an unnamed
senior US government official
also recommended that Ukraine not fixate on defending the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, but instead use the time to
prepare a counteroffensive against Russian troops
.
Instead of sacrificing soldiers and ammunition in the fight for a strategically unimportant target, the US government is advising Ukraine to reorganize its troops and use US-led training programs to send a sophisticated and heavily armed force on an offensive in the south of the country to be able to, he said accordingly.
The
US government
also announced that it would
declare the
private Russian mercenary group Wagner a transnational criminal organization .
The US government will impose specific sanctions against the Wagner Group next week, it said.
Wagner is a criminal organization responsible for atrocities and human rights abuses in Ukraine and around the world.
According to US information, 10,000 mercenaries and 40,000 prisoners recruited from Russian prisons are currently fighting for Wagner on the Russian side.
Two men have also been charged in
the
US suspected of helping
Russian oligarch Viktor Wekselberg, who has been sanctioned since 2018, to cover up the ownership of his superyacht
.
According to the US Department of Justice, a
Briton
has been arrested in Spain and is to be extradited to the United States.
Another suspect with Russian and Swiss citizenship is on
the run
.
Wekselberg is said to have renamed the yacht "Fanta" in order to be able to continue working with US outfitters.
The 78-meter yacht, valued at $90 million, was confiscated in Spain last April at the request of the United States.
What will be important on Saturday
Ukraine wants to continue to put pressure on Germany to deliver battle tanks.
Russian troops, on the other hand, are continuing their attacks in the Donetsk and Zaporizhia regions in order to occupy the Kyiv-controlled parts of the Ukrainian territories.
According to their own statements, the Russian troops had recently spoken of conquests there for the first time since the summer and after many defeats.
kko/AFP/dpa/Reuters
