Ukraine appealed to its partners to create an international tank coalition and to contribute to this initiative.
This was stated in a joint statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, and the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov.
The ministers noted that Russia still maintains a significant advantage in the number of troops, weapons and military equipment and has changed its goals for Ukraine, which are to destroy the country and destroy its 45 million people.
"One of the particularly acute and most urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine today is to improve their provision of modern armored vehicles and strengthen their fire and maneuverability with the help of Western tanks," the statement reads.
The heads of ministries welcomed Great Britainʼs decision to transfer the first squadron of Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine and appealed to the countries that have Leopard 2 tanks in service, in particular Greece, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Finland and Sweden.
"We guarantee that we will use these weapons responsibly and exclusively to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," Kuleba and Reznikov emphasized.
- According to Bloomberg and The Guardian, Germany and Great Britain will announce the decision to transfer Western tanks to Ukraine next week. We are talking about German Leopard tanks and British Challenger 2. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has already confirmed his intention to transfer Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems to the Armed Forces.
- On January 18, members of the European Parliament officially called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to hand over Leopard 2 tanks and air defense systems to Ukraine.