Russia Blasts German Tank Decision as an Escalation of Conflict

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Russia reacted with fury on Wednesday to Germany’s decision to approve the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, saying Berlin was abandoning its “historical responsibility to Russia” The result of Nazi crimes in World War Two.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a Telegram post that the move was confirmation of Germany’s involvement in “a war planned in advance” Russia.

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The Russian embassy in Berlin said the decision – which paves the way for other NATO members also to send German-made tanks – would escalate the 11-month conflict in Ukraine, which Moscow casts increasingly as a perilous face-off between Russia and the U.S.-led alliance.

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“This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation,” Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said. He stated that it would be a problem. “irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations.”

Vladimir Putin did not immediately respond to the announcement. He took part in a lengthy televised meeting of students shortly after the announcement, but only briefly mentioned the matter. “complicated” Russia’s security situation

Kyiv and its Western allies say Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched on Feb. 24 last year, amounts to an unprovoked war of aggression aimed at seizing territory. Moscow says the West is using Ukraine to weaken Russia’s own security.

‘HISTORICAL RESPONSIBILITY’

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Germany’s decision on tanks followed weeks of agonizing by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, prompted by concerns about escalating the war and provoking Russia.

Some Germans are hesitant to send tanks into another conflagration in Ukraine, more than 80 years after the invasion of Soviet Russia and Ukraine during World War Two. This is a reaction to a feeling of historical guilt that was directly tap into by the Russian embassy statement.

“Berlin’s choice means the final refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to recognize its historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War, and the consigning to oblivion of the difficult path of post-war reconciliation between Russians and Germans,” Nechayev said.

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“With the approval of the leadership of Germany, battle tanks with German crosses will again be sent to the ‘eastern front’, which will inevitably lead to the deaths of not only Russian soldiers, but also the civilian population.”

Kyiv has been asking for Western tanks for many months. It says that its forces need them to provide the firepower, mobility, and firepower necessary to penetrate the Russian defense lines and retake occupied territory to the east and south.

Russia repeatedly claimed that foreign tanks will be used. “burn” Ukraine. It states that they will only prolong the conflict and prolong Ukrainian suffering and that the West is. “deluded” You might think otherwise. (Reporting by Mark Trevelyan Editing By Gareth Jones