Ukraine has already received the first of 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks Poland promised to send ahead of Russia’s expected offensive this spring, while Germany has increased to 18 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to make available to Ukrainian authorities.
The arrival of the Leopards in possession of Poland was announced in kyiv by the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. He did not specify the number of tanks delivered, but said the others are on the way. Poland, Ukraine’s main supporter in Europe, has so far delivered a total of 250 tanks to Kiev, most of them Soviet-built T-72s modernized in Poland, and plans to send another 60 PT-91 variants. .
Morawiecki traveled to the Ukrainian capital on the occasion of the first anniversary of the war and to once again express “support for our Ukrainian brothers from what is currently the capital of freedom, the easternmost fortress of free Europe.”
In a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, Morawiecki urged the European Union and NATO partners to do the same and further expand sanctions against Moscow, as, in his opinion, the proposed 10th package is “too weak”.
For this reason, he announced that he will ask the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, without delay, to include more names on the sanctioned list, “especially those of some extremely harmful propagandists,” Morawiecki declared without naming names.
For his part, Zelensky referred to the possibility of creating an “air coalition” that would help his country receive combat aircraft from Western countries and, although he admitted that “it is a difficult issue”, he was confident that “it will be overcome that taboo”.
“We are working in that direction because it would strengthen the Ukrainian army and, most importantly, it would increase the security of our airspace,” the Ukrainian president argued.
Poland was the first country to propose forming a coalition of countries willing to send advanced tanks to Ukraine, even without Germany’s permission to export German-made weapons. The Polish Army has 240 Leopard 2 tanks, of which 137 are of the A4 version, which have been sent to Ukraine, and 105 belong to the A5 variant, as well as about ten Leopard 2 PL modified by the Polish industry.
Germany ended up giving in, but not before involving the United States so that they will also send their Abrams. Berlin then announced that, like Poland, it would send 14 Leopard 2As. But the German government announced this Friday the shipment to Ukraine of another four Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the stocks of the federal Army, which brings to 18 the number of units made available to the Kiev authorities.
“With Portugal and Sweden’s announcement to send 10 Leopard 2 A5 tanks that are technically similar to the 2 A6, we are in a position to deliver 31 Leopard 2 to Ukraine and form a mixed Ukrainian battalion,” the ministry said.
On the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the announcement “sends a new signal of strong support” for Kiev, the German Defense Ministry said.
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