As stated by the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, this coalition has 12 statesKIEV, January 31.
/tass/. Kiev expects to receive up to 140 tanks of Western models during the first deliveries from the participating countries of the "tank coalition", numbering 12 states. This was announced on Tuesday by the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba.
"The tank coalition now has 12 members. It is too early to name all the countries of the coalition and their practical contribution, because some have to make formal decisions in accordance with their internal procedures. I can only note that in the first wave of deliveries, the Armed Forces of Ukraine expect to receive from 120 to 140 units of modern tanks of Western models. These are Leopard 2, Challenger-2, M-1 Abrams. And we are counting on Leclerc tanks," Kuleba said in a video message posted on his Facebook page (banned in the Russian Federation; owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation).
On January 25, the US authorities announced their intention to transfer 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kiev. On the same day, the German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and give other countries permission to re-export these vehicles. According to the head of the German Defense Ministry Boris Pistorius, Leopard 2 will be sent to Ukraine "by the end of March." Norway, Slovakia, Great Britain, Poland and France also announced their intention to provide tanks to Kiev.
At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with Welt that the alliance is not and does not intend to become a party to the conflict in Ukraine. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called his words a lie. She pointed out that Western countries supply Kiev with "weapons and military equipment, train servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, pump Ukraine with money", if only it would continue fighting against the Russian Federation. Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that Russian forces will destroy American M1 Abrams tanks, as well as other military equipment of NATO countries, if the US administration decides to supply them to Ukraine again.