Spain pressured by Germany to reduce number of tanks set for Ukraine
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Following pressure from Berlin, Madrid agrees to reduce the number of tanks to be transferred to Ukraine.
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Leopard 2 A4M tanks (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann)
Germany blocked Spain’s proposal to send dozens of old Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Business Insider reported that earlier in June, the Spanish government planned to send up to 40 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, before Germany blocked the proposal.
Berlin pressured Madrid, and consequently, the latter decided to reduce the number to 10 tanks at the most. This last number could also be further reduced as nothing yet has been drafted and submitted to the federal government for the delivery of the tanks to Ukraine.
The Leopard battle tanks are old German-made tanks that were confiscated from the Soviet Union in the 1990s. As such, the tanks require several repairs. In April, Madrid sent 200 tons of munitions and military equipment, and vehicles to Ukraine.
The Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said that Spain never intended to transfer heavy weapons to Ukraine.
Earlier this year, Russia had launched a special military operation for several reasons, such as NATO's eastward expansion, the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass, and the aggression of Ukrainian forces against the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, which has been ongoing since 2014, as well as denazifying and demilitarizing Ukraine.
In response to that, the collective West has engaged in a proxy war with Russia and engaged Ukraine by supplying weapons and the imposition of sanctions on Russia and all its affiliates. US Congressman Seth Moulton had said earlier that the collective West, led by the United States, is engaged in a proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, confirming that Ukraine's role is to do the fighting on the ground.
