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German battle tank Leopard 2 returns after NATO’s Forward Presence Battle Group Lithuania exercise at the Pabrade military training field, Lithuania, May 17, 2017. Photo/REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
KIEV – Minister of Defense (Menhan) of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov stated on Friday (20/1/2023) that his country’s troops would begin training on German Leopard tanks in Poland.
The training is continuing even though Germany and its NATO allies have yet to reach an agreement on supplying the tanks.
Speaking to US state media, Reznikov said that apart from Poland, countries that already have Leopard tanks can start training missions for our tank crews.
“We’ll start with that, and we’ll go from there,” he said.
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He added, “I hope Germany will follow their process, carry out internal consultations, and will come to a decision on transferring the tanks. I am optimistic about this because the first step has been made.”
Reznikov was speaking after a meeting in Germany of the US-led Defense Contact Group, a panel of nearly 50 countries that meets regularly to pledge a new arms package for Ukraine.
While US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin used the occasion to pledge a new $2.5 billion military aid package to Kiev, Germany has not committed to supplying Leopard 2 battle tanks, or allowing other European countries to export their own stocks of Leopard 2 to Ukraine.
Poland, however, threatened to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine even without Germany’s permission.
Although Berlin’s approval is a legal requirement, Polish Prime Minister (PM) Mateusz Morawiecki stated on Wednesday that “approval is a secondary matter”, and that his government would “do the right thing itself” if needed.
