Germany is willing to send half a battalion of Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine on March

Germany announced Wednesday that it will send to Ukraine at the end of March a half battalion of Leopard-2 tanks, or about 15 armored vehicles, at a time when NATO members are facing difficulties in providing the tanks they promised by Kiev.

“Let’s be clear, we haven’t reached a battalion, however Germany will donate half a battalion,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

At the end of January, Berlin and other Western capitals pledged to give Ukraine about thirty Leopard-2 tanks to help Kiev confront the Russian invasion.

The German minister stated that his country would be able to provide 14 Leopard-2A-6s from Germany, in addition to the three tanks announced by Portugal.

He added, “I want to make it clear that it will be delivered in the last week of March…This is certain”.

Pistorius quoted his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Resnikov, as being satisfied with this number, noting that it is an intermediate stage.

Further discussions on this topic are scheduled on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

For its part, Poland pledged to supply Ukraine with an older Leopard-2 tank battalion.

However, Polish President Andrzej Duda, who visited Brussels to meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, didn’t mention the date of handing over these armored vehicles to Kiev.

The German minister indicated that 14 Leopard 2 tanks had been provided to the Netherlands, but these tanks were given to the German-Dutch Unified Brigade.

“As far as I know, there was no official Dutch request to send it to Ukraine,  and if we send it, it will further weaken the readiness of the German army,” he said.

Early February, the defense ministers of Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark announced that Ukraine would also receive in the coming month’s no less than 100 Leopard 1A-5 tanks, which are used, refurbished armored vehicles.

About ten NATO armies use German-made Leopard tanks in their various models.