BERLIN, February 8. /TASS/. Germany’s Federal Ministry of Defense has officially confirmed its decision to supply 178 Leopard 1A5 tanks to the Kiev government, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The federal government is supporting Ukraine <…> in close cooperation with international partners, supplying it with Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks for legitimate self-defense," the statement reads.

The German cabinet announced its political approval for the delivery last week, but it was followed by other "required formal stages of approval."

"The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of Germany, in its capacity of the main licensing authority, issued licenses to German military companies for exporting up to 178 Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks for Ukraine. The exact number of Leopard 1A5 main battle tanks delivered to Ukraine depends on holding the necessary repair works," the defense ministry said.

Financing, maintenance of tanks and training of Ukrainian tank crews is being conducted in close coordination with Germany’s partner countries in Europe, the ministry said.

The German government has approved supplies of 178 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine, Germany’s Der Spiegel reported on Tuesday, citing its sources. According to the media outlet, Germany’s Federal Security Council comprising the chancellor, foreign, interior, defense, finance, economic, economic cooperation, and justice ministers earlier in the week approved supplies of 178 Leopard 1 tanks from industrial reserves to Ukraine. The first batch of tanks is expected to reach Ukraine this summer, the rest, according to Der Spiegel, will be supplied by 2024.

On January 25, the German government confirmed that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany’s military stockpiles to Ukraine and issue permits to other countries for their re-export. According to German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the tanks will be delivered before "the end of March." The UK, Norway, Poland, Slovakia and France said they would send their tanks to Ukraine as well. The Kiev regime hopes to receive up to 140 tanks from 12 countries in the first batch.