Britain to Send Heavy Tanks to Ukraine, Urges Germany to Follow Steps 

By Staff, Agencies 

Britain’s defense secretary Ben Wallace called on Germany to release Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine after he confirmed that the UK would send 14 of its own Challenger 2 tanks, the first time a western nation has given its own heavy armor to Kiev.

Wallace said the UK would allow Ukrainians to start training with the tanks immediately as part of a fresh package of British military aid, unveiled before a western defense ministers’ conference in Ramstein, Germany, on Friday.

The British minister told the Commons he would “urge my German colleagues” to at least give permission for Poland, Finland and other countries to re-export German-made Leopard 2s in the coming days.

“There’s a debate in Germany at the moment about whether a tank is an offensive weapon or defensive weapon. Well, depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re using it to defend your country, I would wager that it is a defensive weapon system,” Wallace told MPs.

Any decision by Berlin to permit the re-export of Leopards, used by 13 NATO countries, or to give some of its own, would be a decision taken as part of a wider allied effort, Wallace added. “I know there’s been concerns in the German political body that they don’t want to go alone. Well they are not alone,” he said.

Poland and Finland, with substantial fleets of the German-made tanks, have both indicated that they are each willing to donate similar numbers to the UK, if they are allowed to by Berlin.