At the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels yesterday, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius indicated to the media that promises on tank deliveries to Ukraine did not match reality in several NATO member states. Of the two tank battalions with 31 tanks each that were to be sent to Kiev, not even the first battalion is complete: so far, only 14 tanks of the more modern Leopard 2 A6 tanks from Germany and 3 from Portugal are ready to go in March and April. Preparations for the 30 Leopard 2 tanks which Poland promised, are ongoing. No hard facts are available yet on 60 more Leopard 2 tanks of different models, which were said to go to Ukraine sometime. The Netherlands announced in Brussels that it will not send tanks but, rather, 20,000 pieces of ammunition.
Apparently, many of the tanks, most of which are stored away somewhere but not in active use in NATO, require substantial repair and upgrading, the costs of which several NATO countries are not willing to shoulder. Instead, Germany is expected to finance this, which Pistorius has —so far at least – rejected.
Bloomberg reported that Poland, according to Pistorius, had almost 30 tanks of the older Leopard 2A4 modification, regarding which, “many of them are in poor condition and need repairs.”
