The German Bundestag could not hold a vote on supplying Ukraine with Leopard battle tanks.

This is stated by the press service of the German parliament.

The German Bundestag rejected the opposition CDU/CSU faction’s idea to provide tanks to Ukraine.

After a heated debate, all factions except the Conservatives, supported the proposal to refer the issue for further discussion to the Foreign Affairs Committee.

However, both conservatives and three parties of the ruling coalition voted for the continuation of Ukraine’s support with weapons.

This proposition was opposed by the leftists and the Alternative for Germany party.

Deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group David Wadephul appealed Chancellor Olaf Scholz “to finally give the green light for the supply of Leopard” because of the threat of a large-scale Russian spring offensive in Ukraine

The deputy reminded that the Bundestag decided last spring to support Ukraine with heavy weapons.

He also added that there are about 200 older but good Leopard 1 battle tanks in the warehouses of the German defense industry that can be delivered to Ukraine immediately.

The member of parliament also noted that given the readiness of Poland, Spain and Finland to deliver Leopard 2 tanks, the argument that Germany would not act independently is no longer justified, and called Germany a “brake pad” among NATO allies.

The expert on foreign policy issues of the conservative bloc, Yugren Hardt, stressed: “We have lost time. We may have been late. If we agreed to provide Leopard and start training staff in May, the situation would be different.”

The deputy from the ruling SPD, Dietmar Nietan, stressed that “Ukraine should be able to return Russian-controlled territories and win the war,” and admitted that for this Ukraine “needs battle tanks.”

Another MP, Joe Weingarten, noted that the Russian leadership strives to destroy Ukraine, erase it from the map, and that the trench warfare will lead to the total destruction of further areas.

He admitted that the decision to transfer tanks is not easy for his party, but stated that, perhaps, there will be no other way out, taking into account the unwillingness of the Russian Federation to abandon aggressive policies.

“The democratic majority in the parliament wants Ukraine to defeat the aggressor, not only the political and moral victory it has already won, but also the military,” the deputy said.

Agnieszka Brugger of the Green Party, which is part of the ruling coalition, noticed that her party supports the supply of tanks, but the coalition has not yet reached an agreement on this issue.

She called the decision to transfer 40 Marder IFVs a step in the right direction and noted that the next step should be the main battle tanks.

The Head of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, warned Chancellor Scholz against “splitting” Europe by resisting the supply of German tanks.

She called for increased military support for Ukraine and sent a clear message to Putin: “Everyone who wants to destroy our system will deal with all democratic states.”

Calls for a truce at any cost, according to Liberal Alexander Muller, are erroneous and harmful, citing the 2014 experience and the Minsk accords.

“I firmly believe that the war will end at the moment when Putin will be forced to admit that his technique does not lead anywhere, that bloody attacks and neo-imperialism do not work, and that people in the world stand in solidarity and support each other,” Mueller said.

The deputy called on the industry to start repairing existing tanks before a decision is made on their supply, so as not to waste time.

Conservatives called on the federal government to grant industry and third countries permission to export Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 and to prepare the supply of Leopard 2 tanks from Bundeswehr warehouses.

The CDU/CSU group brought the issue of heavy weapons to the discussion at least six times, most recently in September last year, but each time the proposal was sent for revision.