Reports: Germany will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
• Leopard 2s are produced in Germany, but export authorization is required from Berlin.
• Germany has been reluctant to send its troops or allow other countries to send theirs.

According to sources in Germany, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and permit other nations to do the same.

Leopard 2s are produced in Germany, but export authorization is required from Berlin.

Due to worries that it would worsen the confrontation with Russia, Germany has been reluctant to send its troops or allow other countries to send theirs.

According to German media, Mr. Scholz has now decided to send at least 14 Leopard 2s in response to international pressure.

A company typically consists of 14 tanks, which is the same number of Leopard tanks Poland plans to provide and Challenger 2 tanks the UK has already agreed to send to Ukraine.

Der Spiegel in Germany first reported the story, citing official sources, before it appeared to be confirmed elsewhere.

The German government has not yet released a formal statement.

For Ukraine, the tanks are essential for piercing Russian defenses and defeating an anticipated Russian offensive this spring.

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, 300 Leopard tanks would be necessary to overcome Russia.

In recent days, the perceived German slowness to provide the armored vehicles has angered the allied nations.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the prime minister of Poland, told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that Germany had a “particular responsibility” to aid Ukraine since it had amassed “vast Russian riches” prior to the war by purchasing its gas.

Germany, he added, was operating “in a way that is difficult to understand,” delaying, evading, and avoiding.

Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, had claimed that Berlin had authorized other countries to train Ukrainians to operate Leopard 2 tanks but had not committed to deploying its own.

German ambassador to the UK Miguel Berger stated to the BBC on Tuesday that choices would not be influenced by the news cycle.

The Wall Street Journal says that an announcement could be made this week on the likely shipment of several Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine by the United States.

Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff for the Ukrainian president, demanded on Tuesday that Western nations send Kyiv hundreds of tanks so that it may create a “crushing fist” against Russia.

After hearing that Germany had agreed to provide tanks, he posted on Telegram, “Tanks are one of the components for Ukraine to return to its 1991 boundaries.”

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