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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

No Deal on Tanks for Ukraine, But Hope Remains, Says Polish Minister

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak during a ceremony to sign a contract for the delivery of the next batch of Grot carbines for the Polish Army, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Warsaw, Poland, 02 January 2023. (EPA)

No decision on supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was reached at a meeting of allies at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, Poland's defense minister said on Friday, though he remained optimistic that efforts to provide them would end in success. 

"Hope comes from the fact that...defense ministers of 15 countries met on the sidelines of today's conference and we talked about this topic," Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters in Ramstein. "I am convinced that coalition building will end in success." 

Blaszczak added that Poland would provide Ukraine with additional Soviet-made T-72 tanks and some infantry vehicles, without specifying their type. 

"We must do everything to help Ukraine, so that the war does not spill over to NATO territory," Blaszczak said. 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday denied Berlin was unilaterally blocking the shipment of Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine but said the government was ready to move quickly on sending them if there was consensus among allies. 

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