Canada to provide four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine: MoD

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Canada will deliver four Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine in the coming weeks and train Ukrainian troops on using the new system, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand revealed on Thursday during a press conference.

"Today, I am announcing that Canada will supply Ukraine with four Leopard 2 main battle tanks in the coming weeks. This donation, combined with the contributions of allies and partners, will significantly help the armed forces of Ukraine as they fight heroically to defend their nation's freedom and sovereignty," Anand said.

The German-made tanks will be deployed in the coming weeks and are battle-ready, while the M1 Abrams main battle tanks vowed by the United States would take months to reach the battlefield, the defense minister said.

Anand said the tanks will give Ukraine the mobility and firepower to capture Russian-controlled territory and defend the existing land.  

Canada will also send an undisclosed number of its own troops to train Ukrainian soldiers on using the new armored capability, Anand said, and more tanks later based on consultations with allies.

Canada may use C-17 military transport aircraft to send tanks across the Atlantic Ocean to Ukraine, Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Wayne Eyre said during the press conference.

Anand added that she planned on discussing after the press conference coordination on the tank donations and support for Ukraine with European partners.

Yesterday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to deliver 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit told reporters on Wednesday.

According to the spokesperson, the objective, now, is to " quickly raise two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine." This will happen over two stages. First, "Germany will provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from the stocks of the Bundeswehr."

In turn, the Russian Embassy in Germany cautioned that “this extremely dangerous decision shifts the Ukrainian conflict to a new level of standoff,” adding that “Berlin’s choice to supply tanks to Kiev means the final rejection of Germany’s historical responsibility to the Russian people.”