NATO members have informally agreed not to supply certain weapons to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, NATO sources confirmed to dpa on Wednesday.
This is to lower as much as possible the risk of a confrontation between the Western defence alliance and Moscow, the sources said.
NATO members have complied so far with the informal agreement, according to diplomatic sources, out of concern that in the event of a Russian retaliation, alliance members would not offer full support.
This is why Poland in March refrained from sending MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. So far NATO members have refrained from supplying Western tanks and fighter jets.
NATO's Supreme Allied Commander General Tod D. Walters said at the time, based on intelligence assessments, "the transfer of MiG-29s to Ukraine may be mistaken as escalatory and could result in Russian escalation with NATO ... producing a high risk scenario."
A NATO spokesperson declined to comment on such an agreement, saying any decisions to supply weapons rested with individual member states.
Many Eastern European countries have supplied neighbouring Ukraine with Soviet-era equipment and weapons since Russia's invasion began.
The issue arose after German State Secretary for Defence Siemtje Möller told the broadcaster ZDF on Sunday that within NATO it had been agreed not to supply Ukraine with any Western infantry vehicles or tanks.
The German government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under pressure from the opposition over the supply of weapons to Ukraine, with widespread criticism that insufficient deliveries of heavy weaponry are taking place.
