The governments of the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also ready to transfer their “Leopard” tanks to Ukraine. They are waiting for permission from Germany.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes about this with reference to sources.
These countries have already transferred their old Soviet tanks to Ukraine. Instead, Germany had to replace them with its modern Leopard 2A4 tanks.
At the same time, the Czech Republic and Slovakia offer to abandon these German supplies for the time being and transfer the tanks intended for their armies to Ukraine. In total, it is about 30 Leopard tanks. Some of them arrived in these countries in December, and their crews began training.
Germany planned to supply two tanks a month and take over all the costs of repairs and modernization.
- On January 11, Polish President Andrzej Duda informed that his country would transfer a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition. According to NATO standards, a tank company is 14 vehicles, although Duda himself did not name the exact number.
- According to Bloomberg and The Guardian, this week Germany will announce a decision to transfer tanks to Ukraine. We are talking about the German Leopard. Prior to that, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the intention to transfer Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- 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. Germany is expected to announce its decision during a Ramstein-style meeting on January 20.