German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius did not rule out that his country could supply Ukraine with additional Leopard 2A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr reserves in addition to the previously promised 14 units of equipmentBERLIN, February 17.
/tass/. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Berlin is currently supplying Patriot missile defense systems Ukraine is impossible. This is stated in the minister's interview published on Friday with Der Spiegel.
"Let's take the Patriot missile defense system. At the moment we still have exactly one of these systems in Germany," Pistorius said. "If I do this (give Patriot to Kiev - TASS) now, I won't even be able to conduct training anymore. And if I can't train anymore, I won't be able to train the Ukrainian military anymore," the minister stressed. "Therefore, many of these discussions are simply not thought through to the end," he stated, answering the question whether Germany can provide more assistance to Kiev.
However, Pistorius did not rule out that Germany could supply Ukraine with additional Leopard 2A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr reserves in addition to the previously promised 14 units of equipment. "First of all, I'm not ruling anything out. But Germany has committed to creating a full-fledged division by 2025. We are talking about protecting NATO's eastern flank. I have to maintain defensive and operational readiness," the minister concluded.
He clarified that his goal is to have contracts with the defense industry ready for signing by the summer, so that the German Armed Forces receive tanks as soon as possible, which will be transferred to Kiev. "We have made commitments, and trusting them, companies are already ordering steel and engines. The truth is that the delivery time of tanks is at least two to two and a half years. If I had known that I would replace all my Leopards in a year, I could have been more generous helping Ukraine," the head of the German Defense Ministry summed up.
On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and issue permission to other countries to re-export these vehicles. On February 7, the German Cabinet approved the delivery of 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Kiev. Military equipment will be transferred from industrial stocks. German tanks, according to Pistorius, will be delivered to Kiev "at the latest in the last week of March."
