Germany, Denmark, Netherlands to provide funds to restore 100 Leopard 1 tanks for Kyiv

• Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands will pool funds to refurbish at least 100 outdated Leopard 1 tanks.
• German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that between 20 and 25 of the tanks would arrive by summer.
• Details of the agreement still need to be worked out with the businesses that own the tanks.

According to a joint statement released on Tuesday, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands will pool funds to refurbish at least 100 outdated Leopard 1 tanks from industrial stocks and supply them to Ukraine.

According to a statement released by the office of Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov after the counterparts’ meeting, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated that between 20 and 25 of the tanks would arrive by summer, about 80 by the end of the year, and another 100 in 2024. Pistorius was in Kyiv on an unexpected visit.

Germany’s vice-chancellor, Robert Habeck, stated in Washington that although Ukraine should have double-digit Leopard 1 tanks available to it in the first quarter, it was uncertain how many of the 178 tanks his nation had allowed would actually be dispatched.

“The numbers are there but they have to be refurbished for battle, re-equipped, so we don’t know exactly how many,” he told reporters after meeting US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. “But it’s a large number to repel Russia’s spring offensive.”

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When asked if, after months of increasing pressure on Berlin, the decision to send them should have been made sooner, Habeck responded, “I hope the decision was taken at just the right time.”

According to a joint statement from Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands regarding their plans, Ukraine would soon receive at least 100 Leopard 1 A5 tanks as well as logistical assistance, training, spare parts, and ammunition.

Despite being an older model, Dutch Minister of Defense Kasja Ollongren declared the Leopard 1 was “definitely still suitable” for use in combat.

“It’s really a tested tank,” she said on Dutch national broadcaster NOS. “They’re being fixed up and made battle-ready, so they will definitely be useful for the Ukrainians, and also better than a number of Russian tanks.”

According to the statement, specifics of the agreement still need to be worked out with the businesses that own the tanks.

Furthermore, it wasn’t immediately apparent if there would be cost-sharing with the businesses. Arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and a business in northern Germany are the owners of about 180 Leopard 1 tanks in Germany.

Reznikov and Pistorius were in Kyiv, and Pistorius pointed out that previously he had watched Ukrainian troops leave for training in Germany on the more advanced Leopard 2 tanks that Germany has also promised Ukraine.

“The ‘first’ Leopard 2 has arrived in Kyiv,” Reznikov tweeted alongside a photo of himself and Pistorius posing with a scale model Leopard in a display cabinet. Later, the German Ministry of Defense stated that the Leopard 2s themselves would be available at the end of March.

Belgium had expressed “initial interest to participate,” said Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands when they indicated their Leopard 1 program was open to other partners.

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