Germany has not received any official requests from Poland or other countries regarding the transfer of German-made Leopard tanks to Kyiv, and does not yet intend to supply them.
This was stated by official representative of the German government Steffen Hebestreit, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Answering the question about whether Poland asked Germany for permission to transfer its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, at a press conference on January 9 in Berlin, Hebestreit replied:
“I have not heard of any official initiative or request from Poland or other countries with such a proposal. I cannot report any negotiations in this direction on the part of the federal government."
In recent days, representatives of the Polish government have stated that they are ready to transfer German-made Leopard tanks to Kyiv along with other Western countries.
“The case is under consideration,” Jacek Kumoch, adviser to the Polish President for International Affairs, said on Radio Zet on January 9.
He spoke of "symbolic support and participation in a coalition of several countries."
German media reported on the Polish initiative, suggesting that pressure on the German government over supplies would increase.
“At the moment, the German government does not intend to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” a representative of the German government emphasized at the mentioned press conference.
He added that Germany is currently focused on supplying Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, which was announced last week.
At the same time, the German public remains skeptical about the supply of German armored vehicles to Kyiv. In a survey conducted by the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, 49% of respondents were rather against the decision to supply Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and only 40% were rather in favor. As for the supply of Leopard tanks, 50% were against it, and 38% were in favor.
The Polish army is armed with 123 Leopard 2 tanks, 105 in the 2A5 modification and 18 in the 2PL version. With the latter, according to Polish media reports, a problem arose. Currently in Poland, the local defense industry is implementing a program to modernize and supply 142 Leopard 2A4 tanks to the Leopard 2PL standard.
However, so far the contractor, the Bumar Łabędy plant, has delivered only 18 tanks to the troops, or 12,7% of the number of vehicles stipulated by the contract. In addition, the contractor was unable to improve simulators and simulators, develop and transfer complete documentation for the modernized tanks, and create a logistics support system for them.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, last year Kyiv became the main recipient of German weapons, receiving 2,2 billion euros worth of weapons, ammunition and military equipment from Berlin.