German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit recently via social media Twitter Berlin intends to deliver 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr federal military depot to Ukraine.
“The goal is to quickly assemble two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine,” said Hebestreit.
Earlier on the same day, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the decision to the cabinet, after coming under pressure from within his three-party coalition.
“This decision follows our longstanding line of supporting Ukraine as much as we can. We are acting in a way that is closely coordinated internationally,” said Prime Minister Scholz. Training of Ukrainian soldiers to use Leopard 2A6 tanks will “start quickly” in Germany. Berlin will also support Kiev with logistics, ammunition and tank maintenance.
German Leopard 2 heavy battle tank. Photo: Defense News
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine would “not bring any benefit” to Berlin-Moscow relations in the future.
In recent weeks, Western countries have pledged to provide more military hardware to support Ukraine against Russian attacks.
Radio RT January 25th Citing some sources, the White House is planning to provide heavy weapons to Kiev.
When asked about the news that Washington was considering handing over M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov warned that this move (if any) would only follow the scale of US involvement in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. .
Affirming that the M1 Abrams tank goes beyond the scope of the statement to only support “defensive weapons”, Ambassador Antonov emphasized that any US battlefield tanks sent to Ukraine will be destroyed by Russian forces.
“If the decision to hand over the M1 Abrams tank to Kiev has been taken, the American tank will certainly be destroyed, similar to the fate of the model military equipment adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). “- said Antonov.
American M1 Abrams battle tank. Photo: US Army