A Leopard 2 tank crosses a river during a German army, the Bundeswehr, training and information day in Munster, Germany, October 9, 2015.
Bloomberg: Germany Allows Ukraine ‘Preparatory’ Training on Leopard Tanks
Germany hasn’t made a decision to allow the sending of Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, but will allow other countries to train Ukrainian soldiers on the vehicles.
“Germany won’t stand in the way if other states act like us, especially with regard to the possible preparatory training on these tanks,” new defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said Friday after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the US airbase in Ramstein.
The step to allow training doesn’t “pre-conclude” any possible decision on provision of the German-made tanks, Pistorius said.
“But we are preparing ourselves for every possible case.” At the same time, he stressed that a request by some countries to send Leopards to Ukraine wasn’t discussed at the Ramstein meeting.
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Update #1: Ukraine Defense Minister Tells VOA: Troops Will Train on German Tanks in Poland (VOA)
Update #2: Germany signals it hasn’t ruled out sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine (NPR)
WNU Editor: The pressure is being put on Germany to deliver their Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. But this is probably the reason why Germany is reluctant to send their tanks (see tweet below).
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The Bundeswehr is actually naked! We are expected to have a severe shortage of weapons by 2025 due to the energy crisis. It is simply unprofitable for factories to sell weapons at the same prices!
What kind of delivery of tanks to another country can we even talk about? pic.twitter.com/QsSpNurG9q— M (@AdamekMiroslav) January 21, 2023