BERLIN (Reuters) – Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to supply Ukraine with Leopard battle tanks, adding that Germany should speed up the delivery of weapons to Kyiv.
“I am not in the position of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. I can only say what I would do in his place: I would deliver tanks,” Nauseda was quoted by Funke media group as saying on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Germany announced its first delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off Russian attacks, after weeks of pressure at home and abroad to do so amid confusion over its stance.
Nauseda said Germany was going in the right direction but if it wants to be consistent, it could not stop halfway.
“It is extremely important that Ukraine gets the military equipment it needs now. Not tomorrow or the day after – then it could be too late,” he added.
The head of the NATO member state called on the alliance to transition from air surveillance to air defence, saying the Ukraine war showed the importance of air defence capability.
“With airspace surveillance, our pilots can currently only gather information about airspace violations. But there are no orders to shoot down enemy military jets in an emergency,” he said
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
