Scholz: Spain has not yet requested the export of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
Spain has not yet requested the export of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
Scholz said this on Tuesday during a visit to Lithuania, European Pravda reports, citing Bild.
According to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Spain has not yet appealed to Germany to export German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Scholz noted that such an application from Spain would be considered as soon as it arrives.
According to the El Pais newspaper, Spain is willing to supply Ukraine with the German main battle tanks Leopard 2 A4.
As a general rule, the German federal government must approve such arms exports because procurement contracts contain so-called end-use reservations.
The supply of Leopard 2 will be the first time that Ukraine will receive modern Western tanks to fight the russian army.
In Germany, politicians from the ruling SPD party have, so far, stressed that there is an informal agreement among NATO states not to supply such weapons.
According to El Pais, the Spanish government is ready to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 A4 battle tanks, which have been in reserve for ten years at the Spanish army base in Zaragoza.
These tanks are part of a batch of 108 used units that Germany sold to Spain in 1995 before a contract to produce Leopard in Spain.
According to sources, about 40 tanks can be repaired and handed over to the Ukrainian army. But they warn that this requires some industrial modernization work.
It is emphasized that this work is unlikely to be carried out when there is a general increase in military spending in Europe.
In addition, Spain offered to teach the Ukrainian military to handle these battle tanks.
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