Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeyev is confident that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive Leopard tanks sooner or later.
"I am sure that we will get the Leopards," the ambassador said in an interview with Yevropeyska Pravda.
He explained that his confidence relies on diplomatic experience. A year ago Germany also rejected the possibility of supplying PzH 2000 howitzers, MARS II multiple launch rocket systems, and IRIS-T air defence systems.
"We were told: 'In any case, these are offensive weapons, we will give you only defensive weapons. What are you talking about? Shooting down a Russian missile is the same as shooting down a Russian plane. We will not supply it'," Makeyev recalled his meetings with German officials in March this year.
He added that it was then that Ukraine first raised the Leopard issue.
"The issue of Leopards has been raised by the Ukrainian side for almost a year now. This indicates that the German system is extremely caked and difficult to change from within," he noted.
Such changes cannot happen instantly, the ambassador stressed.