Russia slams Germany's decision to send tanks to Ukraine

Russia reacted with fury on January 25 to Germany's decision to approve the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, saying Berlin was abandoning its historical responsibility for Russia arising from Nazi crimes in World War II.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move was confirmation of Germany's involvement in a war planned in advance against Russia.

The Russian embassy in Berlin said the decision - which will allow other NATO members to send German-made tanks - would escalate the 11 month conflict in Ukraine, which Moscow views as a perilous face-off between Russia and the United States-led alliance.

Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said that this extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation. He said it would cause irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations. President Vladimir Putin referred to the complicated security situation facing Russia only briefly after he took part in a long televised meeting with students.