German government accuses Putin of making 'abstruse historical comparisons'

BERLIN

The German government has rejected a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the alleged threat posed to his country by German tanks supplied to Ukraine.

The statements joined "a whole series of abstruse historical comparisons that are repeatedly used to justify the Russian invasion of Ukraine," government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin during Friday's press conference.

If Putin claimed that German tanks threatened Russia as they did in World War II, then "that exposes itself," Hebestreit added.

Hebestreit continued that the German government was concerned with helping Ukraine defend itself in its "defensive struggle" against Russia's "war of aggression" by supplying Leopard 2 tanks.

Germany is doing this together with a whole host of other states, the government spokesman explained. But the German tanks were "aid deliveries and support services, not war participation," Hebestreit added at the press conference.

The Russian president, marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad, had portrayed the Ukrainian war as a fight against a remake of Nazism, making a remark about the German tank deliveries.

"Unbelievable. Unbelievable, but fact. We are threatened again with German tanks - the Leopard tanks, which have iron crosses on them. And they want to fight again against Russia on the Ukrainian soil with the help of Hitler's successors," Putin said in his speech on Thursday.

Putin had at the same time warned those who would try to drive European countries - including Germany - into a war with Russia.

According to Putin, it is a misconception to think that Russia can be defeated on the battlefield.