The German government has announced that it intends to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Now Spain also wants to deliver.
After Germany announced that it would deliver 14 Leopard 2-A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine, two other NATO countries followed suit. Spain is also ready to deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said, according to the EFE news agency. The Netherlands also declare their willingness to do so. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said his country could buy the tanks previously leased from Germany and then make them available to Ukraine.
Just a week ago, Spain ruled out Leopard deliveries to Ukraine. According to the government, a later date would not have been ruled out. Spain prefers to make such decisions “together and united,” emphasized Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares. After Germany’s announcement, more countries are open to tank deliveries.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the decision in the Federal Cabinet on Wednesday. The federal government has also given other states permission to supply their own Leopard tanks. “The decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability. We are acting in close international coordination,” the Chancellor was quoted as saying in the statement. Months of debate preceded the decision.
Ukrainian soldiers should be trained quickly
The goal is to quickly assemble two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks, the government spokesman said. As a first step, Germany will provide a company with 14 Leopard 2 A6s. Ukrainian soldiers should be quickly trained on the tanks in Germany. The package also included ammunition, logistics and maintenance of the systems. You can see what the Leopard tank can do in this video.
According to information from Reuters and Der Spiegel, the decision was made in the Chancellery on Tuesday evening. The decisive building block for this was that, according to insider information, Washington said that the USA would also send 30 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine. Scholz had previously insisted on transatlantic harmony in the delivery of battle tanks, but had also been criticized in the traffic light government for taking too long to make a decision. The US government had initially rejected an Abrams delivery. You can read a comment on Scholz’ Leopard Poker here.
