Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, reports say

Berlin/Kyiv — Germany will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries such as Poland to do the same to help Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion.

The news was broken by Der Spiegel in Germany, citing government sources, but had not officially been confirmed by late Tuesday. Officials in Kyiv swiftly hailed what they said was a potential game-changer on the battlefield in a war that is now 11 months old.

“A few hundred tanks for our tank crews — the best tank crews in the world. This is what is going to become a real punching fist of democracy against the autocracy from the bog,” Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration, wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv has pleaded for months for Western tanks that it says it desperately needs to give its forces the firepower and mobility to break through Russian defensive lines and recapture occupied territory in the east and south.

Germany has been reluctant to send its own tanks over concerns it could escalate the conflict with Russia. German defence minister Boris Pistorius earlier said that Berlin had given other nations the green light to train Ukrainians to use Leopard 2 tanks.

The German decision concerns at least one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks, said Der Spiegel magazine. One company usually comprises 14 tanks.

Zelensky reportedly believes about 300 Leopard tanks would help it defeat Russia.

“Today the chancellor made a decision that no-one took lightly. The fact that Germany will support Ukraine with the Leopard tank is a strong sign of solidarity,” Christian Duerr, parliamentary leader of the co-governing Free Democrats (FDP), was quoted as saying by t-online news portal.

Front line

Front lines in the war, which stretch more than 1,000km through eastern and southern Ukraine, have been largely frozen in place for two months despite heavy losses on both sides. Russia and Ukraine are both widely believed to be planning new offensives.

Whether on not to supply Ukraine with significant numbers of heavy modern battle tanks has dominated discussions among Kyiv’s Western allies in recent days.

Berlin has been pivotal, because the German-made Leopards, fielded by armies across Europe, are widely seen as the best option — available in large numbers and easy to deploy and maintain.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats have been wary of moves that could spur Russia to escalate the war, and what they regard as a risk of the Nato alliance being drawn into the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin casts the “special military operation” that began when his troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year as a defensive and existential battle against an aggressive and arrogant West.

Ukraine and the West call Russia’s actions an unprovoked land grab to subdue a fellow former Soviet republic that Moscow regards as an artificial state.

Earlier on Tuesday, Poland upped the pressure on Scholz to make a decision, saying it had formally sent a request to the German government to allow it to send some of its Leopards. Defence procurement rules mean Berlin must approve re-exports of the Nato workhorse tank by its allies.

Two US officials told Reuters Washington may drop its opposition to sending some of its M1 Abrams tanks.

While the Abrams is considered less suitable than the Leopard for Ukraine due to its heavy fuel consumption and difficulty to maintain, such a move would appear designed to make it easier for Germany — which has called for a united front among Ukraine's allies — to allow the supply of Leopards.

The Pentagon declined to comment on any coming announcements on the Abrams. It also declined to say whether Germany might green light deliveries of the Leopards.

Reuters