Germany’s defense minister said in Warsaw on Wednesday that Germany and its allies hope to provide Ukraine with a first battalion of Leopard 2 tanks by April.
“I think we can deliver at least one battalion for the first four months of this year, maybe three months. And then of course it has to be done as quickly as possible.” Boris Pistorius told the press, indicating that one Ukrainian battalion is equivalent to 31 tanks.
According to the German minister, negotiations are now focusing on “maybe two [batalhões] at the end of the year”, which will be followed next year by “another two or three, maybe four battalions of Leopard 1 A5”, an earlier version of this armored vehicle.
On Tuesday, the defense ministers of Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark announced that Ukraine will receive at least 100 Leopard 1 A5 tanks “in the coming months”.
These German-made tanks will be “refurbished from industrial stocks,” they explained in a joint statement.
The promise of delivery of Leopard 1 became possible thanks to the ‘green light’ from Berlin to German industrialists to supply Ukraine with the tanks they still have in stock.
There will be a potential total of 178 Leopard 1s, but the number that can be delivered in practice will depend on the time it takes for their rehabilitation, as these tanks have been out of service for several years.
On the other hand, there is still some inaccuracy regarding the countries voluntarily supplying Leopard 2, regarding the number of tanks allowed for delivery by these countries, and regarding the date when such tanks will be operational.
Similar, Germany has committed to supply 14 Leopard 2 A6s, Poland 14 Leopard 2 A4s and Canada four Leopard 2s, while Finland, Sweden and Norway, which have Leopard 2s, have indicated their willingness to contribute to the war effort. Spain.
Pistorius said today that together with the Polish and Ukrainian defense ministers, they will invite the countries that will be part of this “tank coalition” to a meeting next week.
“There is still room for some countries to join this initiative,” he added.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than eight million to European countries – according to the most recent data from the UN. which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 17.7 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war, which today has entered its 350th day, 7,155 civilians killed and 11,662 wounded, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
