Ukraine has already received the promised 18 “Leopard 2” tanks from Germany. This was reported by Der Spiegel, adding that 40 German Marder-type armored vehicles had also arrived in the conflict zone. According to the newspaper, the tanks were brought to the Ukrainian border last week. For security reasons, the government did not disclose details of the delivery.
Among the countries that have joined the decision to support Ukraine by sending tanks of this model currently in their armed forces are Poland, Spain, Portugal, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway. For its part, the United States has agreed to supply Abrams-type tanks, equivalent to the Leopard 2.
The Leopard tanks will be deployed in various sectors of the frontline in Ukraine in April or May, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced on Estonian TV Err’s program “Ukraina stuudole”.
Slovakia delivers the first four MiG-29s to Ukraine
The news comes as tensions between NATO bloc countries and Russia mount, with Poland urging the West to “remain calm about Russia’s nuclear weapons” in Belarus but also “resolutely respond to threats.” Polish Minister for European Union Affairs Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek told Sky News that while the response “is an element of escalation, it should be calm but firm” because “we will not be intimidated by Russian propagandists”. .
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev issued new threats, this time aimed directly at America: “Russia has advanced and unique weapons capable of destroying any enemy, including the United States, in the event of a threat to its existence ” he warned in an interview with the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta. For Patrushev, “the NATO countries are actually part of the war” and “they do not hide that their main goal is to try to prolong this military conflict as long as possible, the defeat of Russia on the battlefield and further division”.
According to the Kremlin, proof of Western commitment would be the arms deliveries to Kiev: in addition to the German tanks, three Leopards donated by Portugal also reached Ukraine.
For Kiev there is no peace without the liberation of the Russian-held territories up and down. A negotiated solution is still a long way off, and Moscow’s announcement that it will go directly to the atomic bombs in Belarus will certainly help.