Portugal will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Saturday, without specifying how many will be sent, Reuters reports.
Costa added that Portugal is negotiating with Germany to obtain spare parts needed to repair a number of inoperable Leopard tanks in service with Portugal.
“We are working now to be able to distribute some of our tanks,” Costa told the Lusa news agency during a trip to the Central African Republic. “I know how many tanks will be (sent to Ukraine), but it will be announced at the right time.”
Costa’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Admiral Antonio Silva Ribeiro, the head of Portugal’s armed forces, said last month that Portugal had 37 Leopard 2 tanks, but local media reported that most of them were inoperable.
Portugal is working with Germany to get the spare parts needed to repair the idle tanks, Costa said, adding that he hopes to have them in Ukraine by the end of March.
The Ministry of Defense said it would not comment on the “operational efficiency of weapons systems and equipment” for security reasons.
From 120 to 140 tanks in the “first wave” of deliveries
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said his country would receive 120 to 140 Western tanks as part of the “first wave” of supplies from a 12-nation coalition.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Germany and its European partners plan to send two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “rapidly”, with around 80 vehicles expected, adding that Germany will provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks “as a first step”. “
Germany will also send the ancestor of the Leopard 2 tank to Ukraine
Norway plans to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “as soon as possible,” with Norway’s defense minister suggesting deliveries could take place by the end of March, and according to Politico, it is considering sending eight of the 36 Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Canada will also send four Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
Spain, which has one of the largest Leopard fleets in the EU with 347 tanks, intends to send four to six German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine, according to El País, cited by Agerpres.
On January 11, Poland became the first partner country of Ukraine to announce plans to send Western-made German Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Friday that his country would send 60 more modernized tanks to Ukrainian forces in addition to the 14 already promised Leopard 2s.
“Well, first of all, we try to lead by example. Poland sent 250 tanks or even more a year ago, being the first country to do so,” he recalled in an interview with Canadian television CTV News regarding the Soviet-made T-72 tanks sent to Ukraine in the spring of 2022.
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Source: Hot News
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