BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrij Melnyk has again called on the German government to supply Kiev with battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles for the defensive campaign against Russia. He would like Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) "to finally reconsider his reluctance to supply, for example, the Leopard main battle tank and the Marder infantry fighting vehicle," Ukraine's former ambassador to Germany told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). "If the German government doesn't want to go it alone on deliveries, then Germany could pursue a leadership role on the continent in this, forge a European tank alliance."

Melnyk had already called for such an alliance in October on the occasion of his departure as ambassador from Berlin. At the time, he suggested in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that European states with existing stocks of Leopard 2 tanks join forces and supply Ukraine with ten percent of the 2,000 total.

Ukraine has long asked its allies for Western-designed main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. According to Ukrainian sources, talks are underway with the German government on the delivery of the German Leopard 2 and Marder makes. Chancellor Scholz does not want to supply such tanks until they are also provided by other allies. The SPD politician has repeatedly stressed that Germany will not go it alone on this issue.

On Friday, representatives of the FDP and the Greens again called for Germany to give in on the issue. Ukraine needs not only more air defense, but above all armored vehicles, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP) and Anton Hofreiter (Greens) wrote in a joint article for ntv.de published Friday.

In concrete terms, they are talking about troop carriers, infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks. The ring swap would no longer be of any help, he said, since the European states had meanwhile handed over virtually all Soviet-designed infantry fighting vehicles and battle tanks to Ukraine. Moreover, ammunition for them is running out, he said.

"We should therefore start training Ukrainian soldiers on the "Marder" and especially the "Leopard 2" in Germany right now," the article says. The Leopard-2 is the most widespread main battle tank in Europe, it said, with 2,000 units in 12 European countries. "Together with our European partners, we can provide Ukraine with a sufficient number and at the same time we would be able to maintain them in Poland and Slovakia." He said that the U.S. government has also made clear on several occasions that it supports such a decision.

Melnyk further told RND that in addition to Leopard and Marder, Ukraine needs German Fuchs and Wiesel armored vehicles. The Fuchs is a transport tank, while the Wiesel is a light and maneuverable tracked vehicle. "What we also urgently need is ammunition," the deputy minister stressed.

Referring to the U.S. visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj and the American commitment to supply a Patriot air defense system, Melnyk said, "Ukrainians hope that Chancellor Scholz and the traffic light coalition will also follow this example of the Americans to massively increase military support to my homeland without any ifs or buts. That includes German Patriot systems." The Bundeswehr also has these defensive weapons and only recently assured Poland of the deployment of three systems. However, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has already made it clear that none would now be available for Ukraine.

Melnyk was ambassador to Germany for almost eight years and returned to Kiev in mid-October. He had made a name for himself with - unusually sharp for a diplomat - criticism of the German government./sku/vee/DP/jha