For a long time, the German government debated whether to provide Ukraine with battle tanks from its own ranks. After deciding to do so, she is now struggling to get other states to agree. After the political approval of deliveries, the planned alliance is not yet complete, German government circles told the dpa at the weekend.
On January 25, Berlin announced that it would deliver 14 Leopard 2A6s after Poland had already applied for delivery permits for older Leopard 2A4s. Germany wanted to have five more Leopard 2A6s ready as a replacement. With the participation of other states, two Ukrainian Leopard battalions (usually with 31 tanks each) should come together at the end. While there are already announcements from other countries for the older Leopard model 2A4, the offers for the more modern Type 2A6 initially remained rare.
Portugal leaves number open
Most recently, the Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa promised a delivery. But he left the exact number open. His country is currently in contact with Germany about the overhaul of Leopard tanks, the Portuguese state news agency Lusa reported. During a visit by the Portuguese military mission to the Central African Republic, Costa said: “We are currently working on being able to do without some of our tanks. I know how many tanks will be (sent to Ukraine by us) but that will be announced in due course.”
As a possible date for the posting, Costa called a period of time “until the end of March” on the public TV broadcaster RTP. The Portuguese Armed Forces have a total of 37 Leopard 2A6s, which were bought used from the Netherlands years ago.
According to a report in the Spanish newspaper “El Pais”, Spain is also planning to deliver four to six Leopard tanks. The newspaper wrote that these were Type 2A4 tanks that had been mothballed in Zaragoza since 2012. They would first have to be repaired, which would take about two and a half months and could cost more than 500,000 euros per tank. The exact number of tanks that Spain can deliver depends on the condition of the 53 Leopards that are mothballed. The Spanish Ministry of Defense would neither deny nor confirm the report.
Canada sends tanks by plane
To this end, Canada sent a first Leopard 2 to Europe by transport aircraft over the weekend. “The main battle tanks are on their way to help Ukraine,” Defense Minister Anita Anand wrote in a video on Twitter on Saturday. Your country also wants to participate in the training.
The German “Spiegel” reported that the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously tried in several telephone calls to win over heads of government for delivery commitments. At a video conference, to which the German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had invited, according to “Spiegel” information, no EU country wanted to make any concrete commitments about participating in the tank package. Even the Dutch government, which, like Poland, had already promised to supply Leopard 2 tanks in the media, did not want to commit itself.
Kyiv renews call for “global tank coalition”
Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk, his country’s former ambassador to Germany, called on all Leopard user states on Sunday to contribute to a “global tank coalition” to make the liberation of all occupied territories possible in 2023. He told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” and also wrote on Twitter: “Our survival as a state and as a European cultural nation is in danger.”
Ukraine: Fighting in Kharkiv
The city of Kharkiv in Ukraine was again attacked. In the north-east of Ukraine, on the other hand, the Russian army has regained land again. Meanwhile, the first of four Leopard 2 tanks promised by Canada is on its way to Ukraine. After discussions, the Western partners agreed on these main battle tank deliveries.
At the end of January, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that a total of 120 to 140 Western battle tanks would be delivered to Ukraine in the coming months. In addition to the Leopard tanks, these included Challenger 2 from Great Britain M1 Abrams from the USA.
First training started
According to London and Kyiv, the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the British battle tanks began this week. Poland has also already started training Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard, said Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak, according to a report by news portal TVP.info on Saturday. According to a report by the PAP agency, Blaszczak explained that the precise delivery modalities for the tanks themselves will be discussed with the NATO allies at a meeting in mid-February.
In fact, training is one of the relevant points when it comes to how quickly the tanks are available. So far, the Ukraine has mainly been fighting with tanks of Russian or Soviet design, the more modern Leopard is to be operated significantly differently. The assessments differ, experts generally assume that soldiers can master the military equipment after three to eight weeks of training.
Scholz defends joint action
Meanwhile, Scholz countered fears that Germany could be drawn into Russia’s war against Ukraine by supplying battle tanks. He told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “We carefully weighed every delivery of arms, closely coordinated with our allies, above all with America. This joint approach prevents the war from escalating.”
According to Scholz, there is also an agreement with President Selenskyj that weapons delivered to Kyiv from the West may only be used on Ukrainian territory and not on Russian territory. “There is a consensus on this,” said the German Chancellor. In telephone calls, he made it “very clear” to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia was solely responsible for the war. Putin threatened neither him – Scholz – nor Germany.
Putin had accused Germany of allowing itself to be drawn into a war with Russia. “It’s unbelievable, but a fact: we are being threatened again with the German tank Leopard,” he said on Thursday. As in the Second World War, German weapons are being used to fight against Russia on Ukrainian soil. Contrary to what Putin portrayed, there were no Leopard tanks back then.
More heavy fighting at the front
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the start of training on British main battle tanks on Saturday evening. “It’s a good vehicle and will be a serious reinforcement on the battlefield,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. He thanked Great Britain for military aid. He described the situation at the front as difficult. “The enemy is always throwing in new forces to break through our defenses. Now it’s very hard in Bakhmut, in Wuhledar and in the direction of Lyman,” Zelenskyy said.
According to the UK Ministry of Defense’s daily Ukraine war intelligence update in London, the two main access roads to the Donetsk oblast city are now directly under Russian fire, and another road is being controlled by Wagner mercenaries. “Although Ukrainian troops have several alternative overland routes for resupply, Bakhmut is increasingly isolated,” it said.
Fighting also continued in the area around the Ukrainian Kharkiv. The Russian military reported advances around the village of Dvorichne. The information cannot be verified independently. The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was again the target of Russian attacks at the weekend.
According to Mayor Ihor Terekhov, two Russian rockets fell in the center of Kharkiv. A rocket hit a residential building, he wrote on Telegram. “At the moment it is known that a fire broke out in one of the residential buildings and one person was injured,” said the mayor. The Ukrainian armed forces almost completely recaptured the Kharkiv region in the course of their autumn offensive.
