War in Ukraine: Germany delivered Leopard 2 heavy tanks to Kyiv

This modern weaponry should help the Ukrainian forces repel the Russian invasion. “We delivered the Leopard tanks as announced,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed at a press conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Earlier, the weekly Der Spiegel reported that 18 Leopard 2 tanks had arrived in Ukraine.

In addition to Leopard tanks, ammunition and spare parts, two Büffel armored recovery vehicles were delivered, the German Defense Ministry said. They are in addition to the 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles already in place, he said.

“Our tanks have arrived, as promised, in the hands of our Ukrainian friends,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. I’m sure they can make a difference on the field. »

After being pressured from all sides to supply the Leopard 2, Olaf Scholz gave the go-ahead for the supply of tanks by Germany at the end of January. The delivery was announced by Berlin for “late March, early April”.

VIDEO. Germany gave the go-ahead for the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers were trained at German bases to handle these Leopard 2 type 2A6 heavy battle tanks. On Monday, the governments of Germany and the Netherlands held a joint meeting in the port city of Rotterdam, in the vast warehouse of the Boijmans van Beuningen art museum.

Olaf Scholz and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed military support for Ukraine and their “unique” military cooperation, up to the merger of some units of the two armies.

Asked at a press conference about the recent Russian missile threat against the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague, Mark Rutte called “statements of this kind irresponsible and dangerous.” The ICC, whose jurisdiction Russia does not recognize, recently issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for illegally “deporting” Ukrainian children.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands also condemned “Russian nuclear rhetoric, unfortunately, is not new”, a new illustration of which is the announcement of the deployment of “tactical” nuclear weapons on the territory of its Belarusian ally. “Together with our NATO allies, we are closely monitoring the situation, but in reality this is just rhetoric,” he reasoned, and Russia knows that “the consequences would be enormous if it used such a“ weapon ”.