The quarrel between Warsaw and Berlin over missiles, tanks and spare parts for them has reached a new level, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is urging Western supporters to hurry up with the supply of weapons before the start of Russia’s spring offensive, according to the publication.
The discord between Poland and Germany risks undermining joint efforts to supply Ukrainian troops with Western countries. On Sunday, March 5, writes the American edition of Bloomberg.
Thus, the Polish authorities have recently accused Germany of delaying the dispatch of battle tanks to the front, which caused the threat of sending heavy production equipment by the Poles without coordination with Berlin.
After Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the green light to send Leopard heavy tanks to Ukraine, the Poles said the old Leopards they had pledged to send would be of little use without spare parts from Germany.
“The main responsibility lies with the Federal Republic of Germany, the main manufacturer of these tanks. For so long we have called on the German side to join the tank coalition and supply not only tanks, but also spare parts,” the publication quotes Polish President Andrzej Dudu.
According to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the government often believes that Germany is more focused on competing with Poland for international prominence than actually giving Kiev what it needs.
To remarks by Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak that Germany’s energy policy is sending billions to Moscow, the German ambassador sharply answered on Twitter.
“Does the minister know how many billions of zlotys Poland transferred to Moscow every year in exchange for Russian energy?” Ambassador Thomas Bagger wrote on social media.
The Scholz government is confident that tensions will subside after the end of the election campaign in Poland
[+–]
Photo: Screenshot
Duda’s foreign policy aide, Marcin Przydacz, said he had a “long conversation” with the ambassador to protest the comments.
According to an official familiar with the chancellor’s line of thought, speaking on condition of anonymity, German officials do not view the heightened tone as political theater ahead of the elections, and the Scholz government is confident that tensions will subside once the Polish election campaign is over.
Recall, on February 28, Reuters reported that in February-March 2023, Poland intends to almost completely abandon the import of Russian oil. According to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, at the beginning of 2023, imports from Russia have already dropped to 10%.
Earlier, on February 24, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said that the first German Leopard 2 tanks had already been delivered to Ukraine.
On the same day, Blaszczak announced that Poland would give Ukraine another 60 PT-91 Twardy tanks, an upgraded version of the T-72.
