MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Viktor Bondarev, head of the Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee, on Wednesday told TASS that the supplies of German-made Leopard tanks and the potential transfer of US-made Abrams tanks to Kiev won’t matter much for the Russian special operation in Ukraine.

"These supplies won’t play much of a role. But attention will have to be paid to destroying those tanks, and anti-tank means for that purpose need to be prepared right away," the lawmaker said. "Each of these tank types is vulnerable."

Bondarev stressed that any piece of machinery requires training and maintenance, and Ukraine has no specialists for this equipment. "We will gladly capture these tanks. In the near future, they will be abandoned, after they are delivered, because Ukraine doesn’t have specialists to provide maintenance for these vehicles. We'll weed them out and see what they are made of," he vowed.

Weather will also play a role, the lawmaker stressed.

"The cold spell is now over. It’s a time of muddy roads. The weight of Abrams and Leopards on that terrain is going to turn into a trap," Bondarev predicted.

He said supplies from Western countries would never lead to peace. "The West is trying to destroy Ukraine with these supplies," he noted.

Tank supplies

Some Western news media reported on Tuesday, citing sources, that Germany and the United States decided to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks. According to various publications, some European countries intend to join these supplies.

The German cabinet on Wednesday confirmed that Berlin would provide Ukraine with the Bundeswehr’s main battle tanks, the Leopard 2А6, and will allow countries that have these tanks to send them to Ukraine. During the first stage, Germany plans to send 14 of these tanks to Kiev.