Poland announced on Tuesday that it will send all Leopard 2 tanks promised to Kyiv to Ukraine by the end of this week, Reuters reports.
“Four (Leopard 2 tanks) are already in Ukraine, 4 more will go to Ukraine this week,” Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said at a press conference.
On January 11 this year, Poland announced that it plans to send a company of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to defend against a Russian invasion. The government in Warsaw was Ukraine’s first partner to promise to send it Western-made tanks, not just refurbished or modernized Soviet combat vehicles.
The first 4 Leopard 2 tanks arrived in Ukraine on February 24 on the occasion of Prime Minister Mateusz Moravetsky’s visit to Kyiv on the anniversary of the Russian invasion.
It was Minister Blaszczak who then announced from Warsaw that the Leopard 2 tanks promised to Kyiv were “already in Ukraine”, later declaring that they were 4 combat vehicles.
“The Prime Minister could not be here today, he went to Kyiv to pick up Leopard tanks, which will be the first batch delivered to Ukraine,” President Andrzej Duda also said during the meeting of the country’s Security Council, which took place on February 24. .
Officials in Kyiv have been requesting Western tanks, including the German-made Leopard model, since the beginning of the Russian invasion, but until then their Western partners had only supplied them with Soviet-made combat vehicles.
Western tanks will arrive in Ukraine
After weeks of standoff and tense negotiations between Berlin, Warsaw and other states that wanted to increase military support for Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on January 25 that his government would send a company of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv.
He also stated that Germany will allow states that have such German-made tanks to hand them over to Ukraine if they so wish. The rules for the purchase of military equipment between NATO member states provide for this mandatory condition for the transfer of weapons to a third country.
However, Poland has already announced that it will ignore a possible negative conclusion from Berlin.
On February 3, a spokesman for the German government confirmed that the same measures had been taken against the Leopard 1 model, but did not specify how many tanks of this type Berlin would prepare to send to Ukraine.
Several European countries expressed their intention to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine immediately after Scholz’s statement in January, but Canada won over them, which announced on February 5 that it would send the first combat vehicle of this type to Kyiv. However, the government in Ottawa announced that it would supply Ukraine with only 4 Leopard 2 tanks in total.
The United Kingdom and the United States have alternately announced that they will hand over Western-made Challenger 2 and Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, respectively. The British promised a company of 14 self-made tanks, and US President Joe Biden announced 31 American tanks for Kyiv.
Follow the latest events of the 377th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.
Source: Hot News
James Springer is a renowned author and opinion writer, known for his bold and thought-provoking articles on a wide range of topics. He currently works as a writer at 247 news reel, where he uses his unique voice and sharp wit to offer fresh perspectives on current events. His articles are widely read and shared and has earned him a reputation as a talented and insightful writer.