Ukrainian FM talks about German "Leopard 2" battle tank, power blackout during Berlin visit

Germany has ensured Kyiv the supply of more weapons - but which exactly? According to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, the German Leopard 2 battle tank is not among the list.

"Such a decision has not been made yet, there is no approval. But we are working on it", the minister said during an interview with the German ARD TV channel on December 11, as reported by the Deutschlandfunk.

According to Kuleba, as far as he is concerned, the list of approved military supplies includes weapons such as the state-of-the-art "Iris-T" air defence system and the "Gepard" German self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG). Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, did recently announce the delivery of more German supplies to his army but did not specify what exactly this entails.

Responding to the recent criticism from the US regarding the air attacks on an airport base inside Russia, Kuleba said he could not confirm what happens on Russian territory but expressed his own harsh criticism on such a position.

"I don't understand what 'Ukraine is playing with fire' is supposed to mean. Putin came to us to destroy us - as a state, a nation. When a murderer enters your apartment and tries to kill you, but your neighbour replies with 'Don't play with fire, you cannot provocate him' then you would probably say, that your neighbour was insane", Kuleba argued.

He further stated, that he assesses the scenario of a complete power blackout in Ukraine to be realistic, however, he does not expect that Ukrainians will leave the country in herds due to the current conditions but rather move to rural areas where heating by burning wood is possible.