Germany’s announcement comes in anticipation that USA will provide 30 M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine
The Chancellor of Germany – Olaf Scholz has announced to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine to further strengthen its military support for Ukraine.
The announcement was made over an anticipated decision by the United States (U.S.) to send about 30 M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Germany had previously said that it would only send their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if the U.S. agrees to sending M-1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Germany would be assembling 2 battalions of the tanks for Ukraine. Germany also allowed other countries to pass on their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine’s front line, which was restricted until now under export regulations.
Taking it to twitter, Scholz tweeted (translated to English), “Germany supports Ukraine in defending against Russia’s aggression – humanitarian, financial and with weapons. I @ZelenskyyUa that and informed him that we are supplying #Leopard |2 tanks in close cooperation with our international partners.” Original tweet in German:
Deutschland unterstützt die Ukraine bei der Verteidigung gegen Russlands Aggression – humanitär, finanziell und mit Waffen. Das habe ich @ZelenskyyUa erneut versichert und ihn informiert, dass wir eng abgestimmt mit unseren internationalen Partnern #Leopard|2 Panzer liefern.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) January 25, 2023
The President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted,
German main battle tanks, further broadening of defense support & training missions, green light for partners to supply similar weapons. Just heard about these important & timely decisions in a call with @OlafScholz. Sincerely grateful to the Chancellor and all our friends in 🇩🇪.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2023
Germany will also provide logistics, ammunition and maintenance of the Leopard 2 tanks. The Leopard 2 tanks could be operational in Ukraine in about 3 months. Germany will first rain the Ukrainian troops and then send the tanks.
The German army has 320 Leopard 2 tanks in its possession. Scholz said that Germany would be at the forefront of support for Ukraine. Leopard 2 tanks will strengthen Ukrainian forces with a modern and powerful military vehicle ahead of a potential Russian spring offensive.
The U.K. had set the precedent for providing Ukraine with main battle tanks last week after it pledged to send Kyiv 14 of its British Army Challenger 2 tanks. The agreement crossed what had previously appeared to be a red line for the U.S. and its European allies.
Zelenskyy has been constantly asking the West to provide modern battle tanks. Although Ukraine has stocks of Soviet-era tanks, modern Western tanks provide a greater level of speed and agility.
