Poland intends to deliver a “company” of German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine as part of a coordinated effort among NATO allies under discussion, President Andrzej Duda said.
(Bloomberg) — Poland intends to deliver a “company” of German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine as part of a coordinated effort among NATO allies under discussion, President Andrzej Duda said.
Any transfer would need to fulfill “a whole range of formal requirements and approvals,” he told reporters during a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Wednesday. Poland is holding “very concrete” talks to build a coalition that would support Kyiv with heavy military equipment.
“The war is not ending,” Duda said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Lithuania’s head of state, Gitanas Nauseda. “Everything indicates that Russia will continue to wage a war of attrition against Ukraine.”
Any decision on Leopard deliveries would require approval from Germany, which the Polish government has persistently criticized for being slow in backing Ukraine with heavy weaponry.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government announced last week that it aims to deliver as many as 40 combat vehicles and a Patriot air-defense system to Ukraine by the end of March after coordinating the decision with the US.
The UK is considering sending Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, a move that would mark the first time a Western country would provide Ukraine with NATO-standard main battle tanks to fight Russian forces.
Top defense officials from the US, the UK, Germany and other Ukrainian allies will meet in Germany on Jan. 20.
A company is typically defined as consisting of 14 tanks. Poland currently has more than 240 Leopard 2 tanks.
–With assistance from Konrad Krasuski.
(Adds additional comments from Duda, context from the second paragraph)
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