Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to the participants of the Davos conference in Switzerland (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrates his 45th birthday today (Wednesday) - and expects to receive the most valuable and desirable gift he wanted: tanks from the United States and Germany.
After months of arguments and excuses, the United States and Germany are expected to announce today that they will send heavy tanks to Ukraine.
The Russian ambassador in Washington was quick to respond and wrote on Telegram that "It is obvious that Washington is trying to defeat Russia strategically. If the United States decides to supply tanks, justifying such a step by claiming that it is a 'defensive weapon' will not work. This would be a gross provocation against the Russian Federation," he said.
Zelensky in the US Congress (Photo: Reuters)
Zelensky was chosen as "Time" magazine's man of the year (photo: official website, "Time" magazine)
Zelensky and his family (photo: official website, Instagram)
The German weekly "Der Spiegel" reported yesterday that Chancellor Olaf Schulz decided to send German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and allow other countries, such as Poland, to do so.
The news was not confirmed by the German Ministry of Defense, but earlier a spokesman for the government said that "we will conduct these procedures with due urgency."
Poland has already announced that it is ready to send 14 tanks to Kiev.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that if Germany continues its refusal, "we will form a small coalition of countries that are ready to donate modern equipment, modern tanks."
An adviser to the President of Ukraine said in response that the delivery of "several hundred tanks" would be a "blow to the benefit of democracy, against the Russian autocracy".
Abrams tanks made in the United States (Photo: Reuters)
Leopard 2 tank made in Germany (photo: official website, YouTube)
Heavy diplomatic pressure was exerted on Germany to send tanks, or at the very least to authorize the countries that purchased German-made tanks to export them to Ukraine, for the benefit of the war in Russia.
Berlin, the manufacturer of the coveted Leopard 2 tanks, vetoed their transfer to Kiev.
At a special international summit held on Friday at the US military base Ramstein in southwestern Germany, Berlin continued to insist on not making a decision on giving the tanks to Ukraine, causing great frustration among Kyiv and its allies.
Even Morocco reportedly sent an unknown number of T-72B tanks to Ukraine.
Morocco purchased the tanks from Belarus, but was persuaded to send them to Ukraine.
Kyiv hopes that the United States and Germany will allow countries that have Laford 2 tanks, such as Poland and Finland, to transfer them to Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia issued a joint statement on Saturday, in which they urged Germany to deliver the tanks to Ukraine immediately.
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