Germany to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine after intense debate between Western allies

By Patrick Smith -

Ukraine is about to receive tanks from Germany and other Western countries after a bitter debate exposed fissures between their allies ahead of Russia's long-awaited spring offensive.

The German government announced on Wednesday that it would quickly provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks as a "first step" and would allow other European nations to send their own Leopard main battle tanks soon.

Training of Ukrainian soldiers in its use will begin quickly, according to Germany, along with the provision of maintenance and ammunition.

[The sophisticated M1 Abrams tanks that the US plans to send to Ukraine to face the invasion of Russia]

“This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability.

We are acting in a closely coordinated manner at the international level,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement.

The news comes after US officials told NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, on Tuesday that President Joe Biden was preparing to send dozens of US Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, backing down.

The news comes after the Polish government officially asked Germany on Tuesday to authorize sending Leopard 2 tanks to the battlefield, marking the culmination of a weeks-long lobbying campaign for Europe's leading power to do more. for supporting the Ukrainian cause at a key moment in the war, which has now lasted 11 months.

Germany, which makes the heavy tanks, has to grant permission for the weapons to be shipped to a non-NATO country.

Ukrainian military leaders have said they need hundreds of tanks to break through Russian defenses.

A German Leopard 2 tank during exercises in Pabrade, Lithuania, on June 7, 2022.Michael Kappeler / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images

"Free the Leopards"

Germany has provided billions in humanitarian and military aid since the start of the war, but Scholz has generally maintained a prudent approach rooted in his country's heavy history and political culture.

This has sparked criticism from Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics, which have long called for a stronger response to combat Russia's expansionist aims.

Some had even coined the term "Scholzing," which historian and commentator Timothy Garton Ash defined as "communicating good intentions, only to use/find/invent any conceivable reason to delay and/or prevent them from being carried out."

[Ukrainian Interior Minister dies after helicopter crash near kyiv]

Thousands of protesters have gathered in front of Parliament in Berlin, while the Ukrainian government has launched a social media campaign calling on Germany to "release the Leopards".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been calling for more firepower since before the Russian invasion last February.

Both he and his advisers have made it clear that the weaponry offered by the country's allies will not be enough to reconquer its territory, especially as both sides prepare for what many expect to be an intense period of crucial fighting after the end of the year. winter.

“We need tanks, not 10-20, but several hundred,” Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, declared on his Telegram channel on Monday.

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, stated in an interview last week: "To defeat the Russian Federation, we need tanks."

“The fact is that the question of which weapon is needed is determined by the military.

It is the military that insists that tanks and heavy artillery are crucial today."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Wednesday. Markus Schreiber / AP

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Germany has more than 350 Leopard tanks in service and another 200 in storage.

Poland has agreed to send a company of tanks, normally 14, but he has said the deployment would make more sense as part of an international brigade.

Several countries use Leopard tanks, including Canada, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

The United States had been frustrated by Germany's efforts to pressure Washington on the issue, three US officials told NBC News last week, after Berlin signaled it would be more willing to provide tanks if Washington sent its own M1 tanks. Abrams to Ukraine.

[The tanks that the United Kingdom will give to the Ukraine to defend against the recent attacks from Russia]

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday that Ukraine's allies had already agreed to send a significant number of armored vehicles and some tanks to Ukraine, with more announcements on the way.

"Tanks are, of course, important, both to be able to repel further Russian offensives and so that Ukraine can regain territory and prevail as a sovereign and independent nation in Europe," he said, speaking alongside German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. 

"At the same time, we have to understand that the allies have already decided to deliver both tanks and more armored vehicles, including infantry and combat vehicles."

The UK has already committed to sending 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks to the Ukrainian front.

The deployment of the tanks will be a gradual process.

Ukrainian troops need to be properly trained, while tanks need parts for upkeep and are typically deployed alongside infantry units with their own acquisition and training needs.

Ukraine's allies met on Friday at Ramstein airbase, Germany, but failed to reach an agreement on tanks.Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

Germany may not be the only country harboring doubts about further increasing Western military aid to Ukraine, a move that Russia has consistently warned could spark a dangerous escalation between nuclear-armed powers.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the German and US tank plans as "a rather disastrous plan."

"I am convinced that many specialists understand the absurdity of this idea," Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

“Just because of the technological aspects, this is a pretty disastrous plan.

The main thing is that this is a completely obvious overestimation of the potential that (the supply of tanks) would add to the armed forces of Ukraine.

It's yet another fallacy, quite deep,” he added.

[A stuck grenade is removed from the chest of a Ukrainian soldier in unusual operation]

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin replaced the commander leading his forces in Ukraine after months of battlefield setbacks and internal criticism.

However, Russia scored its first victory in months on the eastern front of the war by taking the mining town of Soledar, as part of its bloody campaign to take the nearby city of Bakhmut, although it was not clear how much of the operation was carried out by the Russian military or by mercenaries from the Wagner Group.