BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Politicians from the Green Party and the FDP are continuing to press Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to supply battle tanks to Ukraine. The chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter (Greens) told the newspapers of the Funke-Mediengruppe (Monday): "Of course, it's not just about Leopard 2, but this is a crucial support that Germany can offer." He added that training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard must begin "now immediately" to avoid further delays. Earlier, FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann had publicly attacked the chancellor in the dispute over the main battle tanks.

At the Ukraine conference in Ramstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany had not yet decided on Friday to deliver battle tanks to the war zone, despite considerable pressure from its allies. The red-green-yellow federal government also did not yet issue a delivery permit to other countries for the German-made tanks. Hofreiter said: "Germany made a major mistake at Ramstein and lost further prestige as a result. This must now be corrected quickly."

However, U.S. President Joe Biden had also shown similar hesitation to Scholz. The U.S. tanks would first have to be transported across the Atlantic, maintenance would be more costly, and they would consume too much fuel, it was said. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also announced no main battle tank deliveries on Friday because of this. Scholz repeatedly stressed in the debate on arms deliveries that Germany would not go it alone, but would always coordinate closely with its partners on important steps - especially with the United States and France.

But Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) also expressed disappointment. "I would have liked to see the German government clear the way for the delivery of Leopard tanks as early as this week," she told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers (Sunday). "These are urgently needed in Ukraine. Ukraine is not only defending its own country, but also our freedom."

The chairwoman of the defense committee in the Bundestag, Strack-Zimmermann, told Tagesschau24 on Saturday, "If you don't want to deliver Leopard 2s, then it must be explained why. Then it must be explained to Ukraine why." She said, "The discussion about the Leopard 2 doesn't cast us in a good light, because of course the Western world expects Germany to lead." That expectation, she said, is actually a compliment. "And we are despondent. We're always behind the wave. So we're always waiting for something to happen. Germany waits, the Chancellor's Office waits until the pressure rises, and then you get going, so to speak."

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich rejected the FDP politician's criticism of Scholz on Saturday, saying, "You don't make a policy in times of war in Europe in the style of outrage rituals or with gasps, but with clarity and reason."

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) told Bild am Sonntag when asked when the decision on Leopard tanks for Ukraine would be made: "We are in very close dialogue with our international partners, first and foremost with the U.S., on this issue." He said that in order to be best prepared for possible decisions, he instructed his House on Friday to "check everything to the extent that we don't lose time unnecessarily if the worst comes to the worst." He also announced in the interview that he would travel to Ukraine as soon as possible, "probably even within the next four weeks."

Pistorius had taken office on Thursday after Christine Lambrecht resigned as head of department./bg/DP/jha