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Warsaw and other NATO allies have been urging Germany to give them
the go-ahead to send the German-made tanks to Ukraine amid ever
louder Kyiv pleas for heavy weaponry it says is essential to turning
the tide against Russia's invasion.
The issue looks set to dominate talks between Western allies at the
Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.
"I do not rule out that we are ready to take such a step," Pawel
Jablonski told private radio RMF FM referring to the possibility of
sending tanks to Ukraine even if Germany opposes it.
"At the moment we are trying to make Germany not only agree these
tanks being sent by Poland or other countries, but also to do so
themselves."
Germany has been loath to send heavy offensive weapons that could be
seen as escalating the Ukraine conflict and has so far withheld
re-export approval for its allies to provide Leopard 2 tanks, now a
mainstay of allied armies across Europe.
Jablonski spoke amid mounting exasperation among some allies over
Germany's stance.
"I think that if there is strong resistance, we will be ready to
take even such non-standard action ... but let's not anticipate the
facts," he said.
His comments reinforced signals sent by Polish Prime Minister
Mateusz Morawiecki on Wednesday, when he suggested that Warsaw could
send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a wider coalition if
Germany fails to give its approval.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on Thursday
several countries would announce sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
at the Ramstein meeting.
However, Germany has yet to receive a request from any country for
permission to re-export German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, a
German government source said on Thursday.
(Reporting by Anna Koper and Alan Charlish; Editing by Christopher
Cushing and Philippa Fletcher)
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