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Military operation in Ukraine

The Netherlands, Denmark not planning to send Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev — newspaper

The newspaper made a request to the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark to find out if these states are ready to supply Leopard 2 to Ukraine

BERLIN, February 15. /TASS/. The Netherlands and Denmark will not participate in the effort to supply German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany’s Die Welt daily newspaper has reported.

The newspaper has sent a formal request for comment to the governments of the Netherlands and Denmark to find out whether those states were ready to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Both governments replied through their spokespersons that they were not ready to do so.

Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte said earlier that his country would deliver to Ukraine a total of 18 Leopard 2 tanks, leased from Germany. However, the Dutch government told Die Welt just recently that the delivery was no longer planned, and this decision was made in close coordination with Berlin.

On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would send Ukraine 14 Leopard 2 tanks and would issue permits for other countries to re-export these vehicles. According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the Leopard 2 tanks will be sent to Ukraine by the end of March. Other countries, in particular the UK, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, and France, have also announced their intention to provide Kiev with Western-made tanks. Kiev expects to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 countries in the first batch.

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