BRUSSELS, 18 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has shown himself this Wednesday “personally in favor” of sending tanks to Ukraine to support the country against the Russian invasion and has warned that they “urgently” need to receive more means to continue “resisting “.
“The time is now: they urgently need more equipment and I am personally in favor of supplying tanks to Ukraine,” Michel declared in a speech before the plenary session of the European Parliament to take stock of the last summit of heads of state and government of the EU held last December in Brussels.
In this way, Michel recalled that almost a year has passed since the Vladimir Putin regime launched its “strategy of destruction and terror” to invade Ukraine, the country “resists and will continue to resist.”
The European Union “will continue to support them for as long as it takes”, stressed the president of the European Council, who stressed that the bloc will maintain its “military support” for Ukraine, especially by increasing the European fund to send weapons.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has also stated that the EU “will remain by Ukraine’s side for as long as necessary”, while recalling that this week the bloc has unlocked a first tranche of 3,000 million of euros of the total of 18,000 million in macro-financial aid that they have planned to provide to kyiv throughout 2023.
Michel’s position on urgently responding to Ukraine’s military needs comes amidst the international debate on how to respond to kyiv, which is calling on the global community to send tanks to continue fighting against Russia in the Donbass region.
Germany, the manufacturer of the ‘Leopard’ battle tanks, has to authorize shipment to a third country, an issue that has generated internal tensions in the country about the advisability of taking the step and also with European partners such as Poland, which demand decisive action from Berlin to stop the Russian troops.
In the case of Spain, the possibility of sending tanks to Ukraine “is not on the table”, according to what the Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, said on Tuesday, who, however, advanced that it will be a matter that The defense ministers who meet in Germany on Friday in the framework of the military contact group for Ukraine, in which more than 40 countries led by the United States coordinate their support, will address.