Poland has officially requested permission to supply Leopards. How many tanks can Kyiv get?
The Polish authorities officially appealed to the German government with a request to allow the transfer of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak.
Germany has received a request from Poland to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the German government confirmed. Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda promised to transfer 14 such tanks to Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Germany has already received our request to agree to the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. I also urge the German side to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks. This is our common cause, because we are talking about the security of all of Europe,” the Polish Minister of Defense wrote on Twitter on January 24.
“The German government has received a request from Poland for the re-export of Leopard 2 tanks. As government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit has already explained, applications are being considered with due urgency in accordance with established procedures,” a representative of the German Cabinet of Ministers confirmed on the same day.
Germany's allies, which have German Leopard 2 tanks, can now begin to train Ukrainian military personnel to use them, even if Berlin has not yet approved their delivery to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on January 24. At the same time, according to him, Germany itself “has no new position on Leopard tanks for Ukraine.”
On the same day, the German defense concern Rheinmetall announced that it could supply a total of 139 Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
“We have 22 Leopard 2A4 vehicles that we could put into operation and supply to Ukraine,” a company representative told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland group publications. – Putting them in order will take a little less than a year. Delivery is possible at the end of 2023 – beginning of 2024.”
In addition, according to a representative of the concern, 2023 Leopard 29A2 tanks will be prepared for circular exchange projects in April-May 4. As for the Leopard 1 type tanks, Rheinmetall can provide 88 of these combat vehicles.
Earlier, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced the transfer of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev. At the same time, on January 23, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the Polish authorities intend to formally apply to Germany for consent to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, but in case of refusal, they will still transfer these armored vehicles to Kyiv within a small coalition of countries.
In addition to Poland, Sweden and Spain announced their readiness to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. However, according to the newspaper El Mundo, the Spanish authorities, despite the opportunity to repair and modernize their Leopard tanks in one month, are still postponing such a decision.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, Poland, by the end of March 2023, will train and equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces brigade with T-72 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, and will also train the Ukrainian military to operate German Leopard 2 tanks.
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