Chancellor Scholz has so far refused to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, saying Germany is not going it alone. This argument may soon no longer count - Great Britain can well imagine such support.
The British government has suggested supplying Western main battle tanks to Ukraine. "There may come a time when we do that," UK Secretary of State for Europe Leo Docherty told Funke media group newspapers. "What Ukraine needs in the short and medium term is a fully modernized military. I see very intensive and long-term defense cooperation between the US and Europe and Ukraine in the future." Chancellor Olaf Scholz has so far refused to supply main battle tanks like the Leopard 2 to Kyiv, saying that Germany is "not going it alone".
In view of the increased Russian drone attacks, Great Britain wants to help Ukraine in a targeted manner. "We are putting together a package to equip the Ukrainians with special military capabilities against drone attacks," announced Docherty. "We would like to expressly thank Germany for delivering the IRIS-T air defense system to the government in Kyiv," underlined Docherty, who represents the Conservative Party in the British House of Commons. "This is a crucial contribution to Ukraine's defense capability."
The war in Ukraine has brought Britain closer to the EU, Docherty stressed. "The war has brought us all closer together - not just the UK and the EU, but all western countries have come together." This also includes keeping in check Russia and China, who want to use force to expand their influence in the Western Balkans. "Here Britain works side by side with the EU."
Docherty attended the Western Balkans Foreign Ministers' Summit in Berlin on Friday. The British government had announced that it would host one of the next summits of the enlarged European political community in London - the first summit meeting was recently held in Prague. "We are very interested in such multilateral European forums," said Docherty.
The British Minister for Europe also sees relaxation on the question of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was hotly disputed recently. London initially wanted to renegotiate the agreement agreed in the wake of Brexit, which involves border controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. "We are seriously looking for a compromise that takes into account both the interests of the people of Northern Ireland and the rules of the EU internal market," said Docherty.
