Germany will send Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine and approved the re-export of tanks of the same type from partner countries, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Berlin: “This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability. We are acting in a coordinated and closely coordinated way internationally. “.
Germany said it will initially supply 14 Leopard 2 tanks from its military stockpile, with the goal of forming two battalions, while also providing ammunition and logistics. It said training for Ukrainian troops would soon begin in Germany and that other European partners would be allowed to move tanks from their depots to Ukraine, where they were awaiting approval from Germany as a country. production house.
United States is also ready to send battle tanks to Ukraine. After months of insisting that its M-1 Abrams are too complicated to maintain and operate, Washington is now expected to begin delivering the most advanced tanks to the Ukrainian military, bringing giving them new combat capabilities against Russian forces.
However, US officials said it could be months before US tanks arrive in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces still need training.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Wednesday that sending Western tanks to Ukraine was a “failed plan” and an “overestimate of the potential this would add to the Ukrainian army.”
“These tanks will burn like all the rest,” he announced.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that, even if Ukraine’s Western partners provide fewer tanks than Russia has on the battlefield, the support will boost his morale.
“They just do one very important thing – they push our soldiers to fight for their own values, because they show that the whole world is with you,” Zelenskyy told the network. German ARD figure.
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