Polish Press Agency
January 14, 2023

Polish PM to meet with Germany’s Scholz over tanks for Ukraine

The Leopard 2 tanks that Warsaw wants to donate to Kyiv as part of a broader international coalition were purchased from Germany and require the German government’s consent to be given to a non-Nato country.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish prime minister, will go to Berlin on Monday to try to convince his German counterpart, Olaf Scholz, to agree to Poland’s handing over a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

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Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, announced in Lviv on Wednesday that Poland had decided to hand a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine under a broader Western coalition. Under Nato standards, a company consists of 14 tanks.

Morawiecki said Poland was in talks with several other countries, including Finland and Denmark, asking them to join the scheme. The UK is considering handing over ten of its Challenger tanks.

The Pentagon has expressed support for Poland’s initiative.

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Ukranews
January 14, 2023

5 Countries Waiting For German Permission To Transfer Leopard 2 Tanks To Ukraine – Kuleba

Poland, Finland and three other countries are ready to transfer to Ukraine Leopard 2 main battle tanks of the German production. They are waiting for Germany to agree.

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According to him, the impetus for the readiness to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was the decision of France. Previously, Paris announced the provision of АМХ-10RC wheeled tanks to the Ukrainian military.

Poland took the second step to make the appearance of the German Leopard 2 in service with Ukraine a reality.

“He encouraged other countries that had sat quietly before and whispered to us that they were ready to hand over the Leopard to go out and say: we are basically ready to do that too,” Kuleba said.

He added that Poland and Finland had publicly announced their readiness to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

At the same time, Kuleba added that he knows three more countries that are ready to take such a step, but are waiting for the green light from Germany.

“They want to say this out loud, only being 100% sure that the Germans will come out and say: we are in favor,” the Minister concluded.