Germany’s Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, will reportedly start training Ukrainian troops on the Leopard 2 main battle tanks next week, German magazine Der Spiegel reported on Feb. 11.
According to the publication, the first Ukrainian soldiers have already been brought from Poland to Germany in the past few days.
In the middle of next week, the training on the Leopard 2 tanks will start at the Munster military training area in Lower Saxony, where Ukrainian units are already being trained on the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, the report said.
On Feb. 8, Bloomberg reported that Germany was pushing European allies to provide Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine. According to the report, Berlin is concerned that European countries may not provide enough Leopard 2s to form two battalions or 62 vehicles, as promised.
Germany said it would send 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to start, while Poland promised to provide the 2A4 models. Canada is also providing four Leopard 2s. Other countries in Europe, including the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway, have talked about sending theirs but have yet to make a definitive commitment.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced on Feb. 8 that a “tank summit” will be held next week, bringing together representatives of Germany, Poland, and Ukraine to discuss the provision of Western-made tanks to Kyiv.
Other allied countries, who have expressed interest in providing German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, will also be invited to attend.
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