This initiative was officially confirmed by the German Defense MinistryBERLIN, February 7.
/tass/. The German Ministry of Defense has officially confirmed the decision to supply 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev. This is stated in a statement issued on Tuesday by the German Defense Ministry.
"The Federal Government supports Ukraine <...> in close cooperation with international partners by supplying Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks for legitimate self-defense <...>," the message reads. At the same time, it is clarified that the German Cabinet has already announced the political approval of this delivery last week. "Then the necessary formal approval stages followed," the German Defense Ministry added.
"The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, as the official licensing authority, has issued licenses to German military companies to export up to 178 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks for Ukraine. How many Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks will actually be delivered to Ukraine depends on the necessary repairs," the German Defense Ministry summed up.
Financing and repair of tanks, as well as training of the Ukrainian military is carried out in close coordination with the partner countries of Germany in Europe, the Ministry concluded.
Earlier on Tuesday, Der Spiegel reported that earlier this week the German Federal Security Council, which includes the German Chancellor, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense, Finance, Economic Affairs, economic cooperation and Justice, approved the delivery of a total of 178 Leopard 1 tanks to Kiev. Military equipment, according to Der Spiegel, will be transferred from industrial stocks. Ideally, the first Leopard 1 combat tanks should be delivered to Ukraine this summer, but most of them probably will not be delivered until 2024, the publication summarizes.
On January 25, 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." Great Britain, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and France also announced their intention to provide Western-made tanks to Kiev. Kiev expects to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 states as the first batch.
