Polish defense minister questions German commitment to helping Ukraine

WARSAW

The Polish defense minister on Monday questioned Berlin's commitment to helping Kyiv in fighting Russia, saying he is “not certain if Germany wants Ukraine to win the conflict.”

Asked if Germans really want Ukraine to win the war that broke out last February, Mariusz Blaszczak, said: “It is a question I always ask when talking to German officials.”

He told Polish Radio 1 that Germany should provide more battle tanks to Ukraine and that Warsaw would continue applying pressure on Berlin to do so. “There is a reason for this pressure,” said Błaszczak.

He criticized the Polish opposition for “blindly parroting Germany … if they ruled in Poland, they would say that Ukraine does not need Leopards or Patriots. They would repeat everything Berlin is saying,” he said.

“It can be said plainly, if not for Polish pressure exerted on Germans, the decision to donate Leopard tanks to Ukraine would not have been made,” Blaszczak said.

The polish minister also referred to the words of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said Germany will not send fighter jets and land forces to help Kyiv, after reluctantly agreeing to initially send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allowing other allies to send their German-made armored vehicles to Kyiv.

"I can only advise against entering into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapons systems," Scholz told the Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday.

Poland has been at the forefront of international condemnation against Russia’s war on Ukraine. Besides hosting a large number of Ukrainian refugees, it is a leading contributor of military aid to the war-torn country.