ZELENSKY CALLED FOR QUICK DECISION ON ISSUE OF SENDING TANKS
Volodymyr Zelensky has said discussions on delivering tanks to Ukraine 'must end with decisions' as he piled the pressure on his allies after Germany and the US moved to supply tanks.
The Ukrainian president said in his evening address that his country's allies 'have the required number of tanks' Ukraine has asked for to strengthen its forces against the Russian military actions.
It came as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the delivery of the tanks would 'bring nothing good to the future relationship' between Berlin and Moscow, warning: 'They will leave a lasting mark.'
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has finally decided to send a battalion of sought-after Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday, after weeks of pressure from Ukraine and European allies.
The decision, which has not yet been formally announced by Berlin, concerns at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks that will be provided out of Bundeswehr stocks, Spiegel claimed.
The German foreign minister said a decision would be made 'shortly'.
While Western nations have pledged ever more sophisticated military hardware in recent weeks to help Ukraine repel Russia's military actions, all eyes in Kyiv are on the battle tanks.
Allies that have stocks of the German-made Leopard 2 tanks will also be able to supply units to Kyiv.
It comes as US officials claimed the Biden administration is considering dropping its opposition to sending a company of M1 Abrams battle tanks, telling Reuters the decision could come later this week.
Berlin stopped short of a final confirmation on Tuesday, but German media including newspaper Der Spiegel and news channel NTV reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would grant approval.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was battling a deepening corruption scandal within his government, sacking several officials while others resigned.
Ukraine and several of its allies have been urging Germany for weeks to allow the delivery of the Leopards, but a US-led meeting of Kyiv's allies in Germany last week failed to yield a decision.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius indicated on Tuesday that the moment of truth could be imminent, saying he had 'expressly encouraged partner countries that have Leopard tanks that are ready for deployment to train Ukrainian forces on these tanks'.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his entourage have pleaded for months for Western tanks, which they say will give their forces the firepower and mobility to pierce Russian defensive lines and recapture occupied territory.
FINLAND AND SWEDEN TRY TO MEET TURKEY
Finland and Sweden are trying to organize a new meeting with representatives of Turkey to discuss the prospects and problems of NATO membership, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland announced.
Earlier Turkey has cancelled indefinitely a trilateral mechanism meeting with Sweden and Finland scheduled for February after a weekend protest in Stockholm that drew condemnation from Ankara, state broadcaster TRT reported on Tuesday, Reuters reports.
The meeting that was to take place in Brussels in February was postponed at Ankara's request, TRT said citing Turkish diplomatic sources. Erdogan's spokesman said earlier this month that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was to also attend.
A source at the Turkish presidency said Turkey had not cancelled the meeting, but postponed it. The source did not specify when the meeting was postponed to.
The presidency declined to provide on-record comment about the postponement.
On Monday, President Tayyip Erdogan said that Sweden should not expect Turkey's support for its NATO membership after a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm at the weekend including the burning of a copy of the Koran.
IRANIAN AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET IN TASHKENT
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhoun Bayramov on the sidelines of the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization’s top diplomats in Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. In the meeting, Amirabdollahian and Bayramov explored ways of expanding friendly ties between Tehran and Baku.
Amirabdollahian and Bayramov held talks about regional developments as well as using the opportunity and capacity of the 3+3 framework to resolve regional issues by countries of the region and to prevent foreign players from interfering in those issues.
