Ukraine and the West call Russia's actions an unprovoked land grab to subdue a fellow former Soviet republic that Moscow regards as an artificial state.
Earlier on Tuesday, Poland upped the pressure on Scholz to make a decision, saying it had formally sent a request to the German government to allow it to send some of its Leopards. Defence procurement rules mean Berlin must approve re-exports of the NATO workhorse tank by its allies.
And two US officials told Reuters Washington may drop its opposition to sending some of its M1 Abrams tanks.
While the Abrams is considered less suitable than the Leopard for Ukraine due to its heavy fuel consumption and difficulty to maintain, such a move would appear designed to make it easier for Germany - which has called for a united front among Ukraine's allies - to allow the supply of Leopards.
The Pentagon declined to comment on any coming announcements on the Abrams. It also declined comment on whether Germany might green light deliveries of the Leopards.
LEADERSHIP PURGE
Separately on Tuesday, Ukraine dismissed more than a dozen senior officials including governors of several major battlefield provinces, part of an anti-corruption drive by Zelenskiy's government made more critical by the need to keep its Western backers onside.
Among Ukrainian officials who resigned or were dismissed on Tuesday were the governors of the Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and adjacent Dnipropetrovsk are frontline provinces now. Kyiv and Sumy were major battlefields earlier in the war.
A deputy defence minister, a deputy prosecutor, a deputy head of Zelenskiy's office and two deputy ministers responsible for regional development were among the others who left.
Some, though not all, had been linked with corruption allegations. Ukraine has a history of graft and shaky governance, and is under international pressure to show it can be a reliable steward of billions of dollars in Western aid.
Zelenskiy aide Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted: "The president sees and hears society. And he directly responds to a key public demand - justice for all."
The purge came two days after a deputy infrastructure minister was arrested and accused of siphoning off US$400,000 from contracts to buy generators - one of the first big corruption scandals to become public since the war began 11 months ago.
The Defence Ministry said Deputy Defence Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, responsible for supplying troops, had resigned to retain trust after what it called untrue media accusations of corruption. It followed a newspaper report that the ministry overpaid for food for troops, which the ministry denied.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy chief of staff in Zelensyiy's office, announced his own resignation, also citing no reason. He had helped run the president's 2019 election campaign and more recently had a role in overseeing regional policy.
As the shake-up unfolded in a series of announcements, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told a cabinet meeting that Ukraine was making progress in its anti-corruption campaign. "It is systemic, consecutive work which is very needed for Ukraine and is an integral part of integration with the EU," he said.
The European Union, which offered Ukraine the status of candidate member last June, welcomed the development.
"As a general rule we do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations but we do welcome the fact that the Ukraine authorities are taking these issues seriously," an EU spokeswoman said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZ2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vd29ybGQvZ2VybWFueS1hcHByb3ZlLXNlbmRpbmctaGVhdnktYmF0dGxlLXRhbmtzLXVrcmFpbmUtcmVwb3J0LTMyMjkwNTHSAQA?oc=5
2023-01-24 21:22:00Z
1744545030
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar