The transfer of Western-made tanks to Ukraine could provoke an expansion of the conflict up to a nuclear war. On Tuesday, February 14, Bundestag deputy from the Left Party Sevim Dagdelen shared this opinion in an interview Global Times.
“Sending heavy battle tanks, which [канцлер ФРГ Олаф] Scholz previously considered a “red line” to be another violation of a taboo and an extremely dangerous escalation,” she stressed.
According to the politician, this decision, which is increasingly involving Berlin in a geopolitical confrontation, was made under pressure from the United States. Dagdalen called this scenario erroneous and noted that it is in the interests of the West to abandon forceful methods and rely on diplomacy.
Earlier in the day, she said that Germany should consider refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons systems that are capable of firing cluster munitions, recalling the convention banning cluster munitions that Ukraine has so actively used.
On February 10, it was reported that more than 30,000 people signed a petition sent to German Chancellor Scholz calling for an end to the increase in arms supplies to Kyiv and to initiate peace talks. The authors of the document on February 25 intend to hold a rally in support of their initiative in the center of Berlin.
Meanwhile, on February 8, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French leader Emmanuel Macron in Paris, Scholz said that Berlin would transfer military aid to Kyiv as much as necessary. In response, Zelensky called on the heads of European countries to transfer tanks and heavy weapons to Ukraine “as soon as possible.”
At the end of January, the German government confirmed the decision to send German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Germany is ready to form two tank battalions, at the first stage, Berlin will send a company of 14 tanks from the Bundeswehr stocks. Germany also granted permission for the re-export of German Leopard 2 to Kyiv to those countries that plan such deliveries from their stocks.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned the supply of arms to Ukraine. So, it was noted that the tanks will not help the Ukrainian nationalists to carry out the offensive and will be destroyed.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Kyiv against the backdrop of a special operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass, the decision on which was made against the backdrop of aggravation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
