Polish president to advocate for giving tanks to Ukraine in Davos
Poland's President Andrzej Duda will take advantage of his meetings at the World Economic Forum in Davos to find support for Poland's initiative to donate tanks to Ukraine, Duda's aide has said.
Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president's Foreign Policy Bureau, said before Duda took off to Davos on Monday that "the issue will be raised at formal and informal meetings."
The Davos forum starts on Monday and ends on Friday.
The Polish president announced in Lviv last Wednesday that Poland had decided to hand a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine under a broader Western coalition. Under Nato standards, a company consists of 14 tanks.
The Leopard 2 tanks that Warsaw wants to donate to Kyiv as part of a broader international coalition were purchased from Germany and require the German government's consent to be given to a non-Nato country.
Pawel Szrot, head of Duda's office, said on Friday that a tanks-for-Ukraine coalition had already been set up, with Finland and Denmark joining the scheme, while the UK has announced it will hand over 12 of its Challenger 2 tanks.
The US Pentagon has expressed support for Poland's initiative.
