Germany will bear the cost of the Leopard 2 tanks it will provide to Ukraine, unlike other allies, such as Poland, which will ask the European Union to reimburse the costs associated with the transfer of such tanks to the Ukrainian army, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said. This was reported by the EFE agency on Wednesday, Agerpres reports.
“I don’t know exactly how much these costs will be, but Germany will bear them,” Scholz said at a press conference in Berlin.
On the other hand, Poland, which announced its readiness to transfer German Leopard 2 tanks from its own stock to Ukraine, clarified that it will ask the European Union to reimburse the cost of these tanks and hopes that Brussels will give “proof of goodwill” in this matter, according to the statement of the prime Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki.
After much hesitation, the German government announced on Wednesday that it would provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks and would also authorize countries that have tanks of this type to transfer them to the Ukrainian army. So far, only Poland has officially applied to Berlin for permission to re-export, but Norway, the Netherlands and Spain have expressed their intention to provide such tanks to Ukraine.
In total, the Polish army has 247 Leopard tanks.
Since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine 11 months ago, Poland handed over 270 Soviet-made T-72 tanks to Ukraine. Although the Ukrainian army will receive a relatively small number of Leopard 2 tanks and the first will arrive in Ukraine only in about three months, they “have ideal characteristics to counter Russian tanks,” explains the Polish general.
Berlin conditioned this military aid on the involvement of the United States, offering the Ukrainian army American M1 Abrams tanks. Citing logistical and maintenance difficulties, Washington rejected the request, but on Wednesday Biden announced that he would send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Added to this aid were 14 Challenger 2 tanks promised to Ukraine by Great Britain and an as yet unknown number of AMX-10 light tanks promised by France.
Ukraine insists on receiving Western heavy tanks to break through Russian lines, because it does not have enough tanks after 11 months of war.
Source: Hot News
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