Following Germany's U-turn on delivering tanks to Ukraine, the head of the country's governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) is not explicitly ruling out supporting Ukraine with fighter jets.
Asked on Sunday whether she would rule out the delivery of fighter jets, SPD leader Saskia Esken told German broadcaster ARD said that Germany is not a party to the war, and the government wants to "avoid this in the future."
"The decisive factor is that Germany and NATO are not party to this war," which is why the German government is in very close consultation with US counterparts on these issues, said Esken, whose party leads a coalition government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
At the same time, it was important for Germany to make it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin with every decision "that we reject Russian aggression."
The comments come after the German government promised Ukraine a delivery of 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks on Wednesday, after a long period of waiting for a similar commitment from the US.
