WARSAW: Poland on Thursday said it had delivered to Ukraine the additional 10 Leopard 2A4 tanks it had promised, while allies would send theirs shortly.
“We’re talking about a battalion of heavy tanks which, in the case of Poland’s share, have already been delivered and, in the case of our allies, they will be delivered to Ukraine very soon,” Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters.
Warsaw had promised to ship a total of 14 German-made Leopard 2 heavy tanks to Kyiv.
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The first four were delivered in late February, on the first anniversary of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.
Blaszczak said the tanks to follow from allied countries include eight from Canada, eight from Norway and at least six from Spain.
“I spoke to Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles. There may be four additional ones,” Blaszczak said.
Poland has been spearheading efforts to send the modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Germany initially resisted the pressure from allies to authorise the move but early this year, Berlin agreed to send its own Leopards and greenlighted the deliveries from other countries.
Blaszczak also said Poland would set up a service hub for the battle tanks used in Ukraine.
“We are proceeding with a hub that will be responsible for servicing and fixing the tanks that have been delivered to Ukraine or will be soon,” he said.
He added that he had raised the issue in talks with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius.
“The challenge is spare parts for these tanks. Twenty years ago they stopped producing these parts but we are prepared to resume production – of course in cooperation with the Germans,” he said.
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