Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki went to Kyiv to receive Leopards. Poland pledged to transfer 14 German vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other countries will join the tank coalition.
The first German Leopard 2 tanks have already been delivered to Ukraine. This was stated on February 24 by Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak at a meeting of the National Security Council, writes издание Events.
Polish President Andrzej Duda during a meeting of the Security Council expressed joy that Poland was the first to send Leopard 2 tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“The first Leopard tanks from Poland arrived in Ukraine. The Prime Minister went to Kyiv to receive the Leopards. We are acting in such a way as to deter the aggressor,” the head of the Polish Ministry of Defense stressed.
He did not announce the number of sent tanks. The Ukrainian military has been trained for several weeks in the use of German Leopard 2 tanks at the training ground in Sventoszów, he added.
According to the minister, the fact of cooperation between Poland and Germany played a fundamental role in sending the Leopard 2 tanks.
“After a conversation with my German colleague, I agreed that the Polish side is building a coalition of countries with Leopard 2A4 tanks. The Germans will build a coalition of those who have Leopard 2A6 tanks,” — quotes minister of the Polish broadcaster TVP.
A division of Leopard 2A4 tanks is sent to Ukraine, which will include 14 vehicles from Poland, 8 from Norway and 4 from Canada, informed newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
The decision to send Leopard 2 tanks, according to media reports, was to be announced by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki during a visit to Kyiv.
On February 20, Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov spoke about the formation of at least 2 tank battalions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will be armed with German Leopard 2 tanks. In addition, the command is going to create 6-7 battalions from Leopard 1 tanks with ammunition.
On February 14, Norway announced its readiness to join the “tank coalition” and talked about transferring 8 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
