15.02.2023
According to the defense minister, Germany will not be able to fulfill its promise to send a full battalion. Ukraine’s order for Leopard 2 heavy tanks had generated great controversy in the country.
Germany, which was counting on sending Ukraine a full battalion of Leopard 2 A6 tankswill not be able to comply with the request, the German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, indicated this Wednesday (02.15.2023).
“From the (Leopard) 2A6 side, there are 14 Germans and three Portuguese and we will not reach battalion strength,” Pistorius told a news conference following a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers in the organization’s headquarters in Brussels.
At the end of January, Germany was counting on could send to kyiv by the end of March or early April two battalions of Leopard 2: Poland would be in charge of coordinating the contributions of the 2A4 model and, Germany itself, of a more advanced model, the 2A6. According to Pistorius, in the part coordinated by Poland of Leopards 2A4, “we have obtained a battalion”, about 30 tanks, a capacity that has not been achieved in the case of the 2A6 managed by Germany.
Pistorius also pointed out that he spoke with his Dutch counterpart and that, for the moment, he has not asked her any questions to be able to use these German tanks, of which the Netherlands has a brigade. In any case, the German minister considered that the delivery of the Leopards is on the right track and that his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, was “satisfied” on Tuesday during his meeting with the allies.
He explained that “many tanks are already ready to be delivered within the designated period, although others will still require more work to be ready and could arrive in Ukraine about four weeks later.”
Regarding the production of ammunition, Pistorius stated that on Friday he will meet again with the military industry in the framework of the Munich Security Conference to discuss the matter. He will also address with the sector the question of repairs that tanks need when they are active on the battlefield.
ies (EFE, AFP)