Germany confirms delivery of 18 leopard tanks to Ukraine
Olaf Scholz
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Monday (March 27) that Germany had provided Leopard tanks to Ukraine as promised. This has provided Ukraine with some much-needed heavy weaponry against Russia.
"Yes, we delivered Leopard tanks as we announced," Scholz told a press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Rotterdam when asked to confirm a report in news outlet Spiegel.
The report had said that Berlin had delivered 18 of the advanced Leopard tanks and that the last of the tanks left Germany last week.
About 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles have also arrived in Ukraine, Spiegel said, adding Berlin was keeping the route of the deliveries secret for security reasons.
AFP reported that the German defence ministry declined to comment.
Ukrainian soldiers were trained on the 2A6s, the most advanced of the Leopard models, on German military bases.
Germany greenlit provision of Leopard tank to Ukraine in January. German-made Leopard tanks are among the world's most advanced tanks. These tanks are used by militaries across Europe.
Under German law, any country wanting to send the tanks to another country must first get approval from Berlin.
Scholz's government initially said it was aiming to assemble, along with allies, two battalions of tanks for Kyiv -- about 60 tanks in total.
But they have since struggled to get the numbers together.
The German and Dutch cabinets held a special joint session in the port city of Rotterdam on Monday at the huge, mirrored depot of the Boijmans Van Beuningen art museum.
Scholz and Rutte said they had discussed military support for Ukraine and their "unique" military cooperation, which involves Germany and the Netherlands merging some of their armed units.
(With inputs from agencies)
You can now write for here.
WATCH WION LIVE HERE