West to send Kiev only half of vowed Leopard 2 tanks: German MoD

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Countries which have been pushing Germany to supply Ukraine with tanks will be able to send only half of the promised Leopard 2 A6 tanks, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.  

Denmark and the Netherlands would not send more advanced versions of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, which reduces the list of previously promised combat vehicles, according to Germany's Die Welt newspaper on Tuesday.

"Half a battalion [Leopard 2] A6 and one battalion A4 will be supplied. And over 120 Leopard 1A5s will be added to this by early next year, which I ask you not to underestimate," Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, referring to the first deliveries of advanced tanks.

The Netherlands would only participate in sending ammunition for the tanks, the minister added, while Denmark was still studying its participation options.

The German Defense Minister noted that Ukraine would eventually receive five to six battalions of tanks.

Pistorius noted that his previous day's assessment of many tanks' condition as not really breathtaking had not changed, and therefore only some of the Leopard 2 tanks would be sent within the previously announced deadline from the end of March to the end of April.

Read: Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered to Ukraine by April: German MoD

However, Germany's 14 newer A6 version Leopard tanks would be delivered no later than the last week of March.

"As for the condition of the tanks, one thing is clear: many tanks can be delivered and used immediately, apart from minor adaptations in terms of communication and other things, other tanks are in 'okay' condition and require modifications," Pistorius added.

Germany had previously reported plans to supply Ukraine with two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks, which is equivalent to about 90 combat vehicles in the German military interpretation and 60 in the Ukrainian one.

Later, the government said that "battalion" should be understood exactly in the terms of the country where the tanks are sent.

Read more: Germany to deliver 88 Leopard I tanks to Kiev

It is worth noting that more than 250,000 people have signed a petition calling on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop increasing arms supplies to Ukraine and initiate peace talks on the issue, data on the change.org petition website showed on Sunday.

The petition titled "Manifest for Peace" was launched on the change.org portal by Sahra Wagenknecht, a German lawmaker from The Left Party, and prominent German feminist journalist Alice Schwarzer on Friday. 

Wagenknecht told die Welt newspaper on Friday that Germans that support peace talks and reject their country sending arms to Ukraine must organize a peace movement or the situation will deteriorate and Germany will be dragged deeper into the Ukraine-Russia conflict.