Spanish Leopard main battle tanks will arrive in Ukraine before the end of the month

Minister of Defense, Daisy Robleshe announced this Wednesday that six Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks committed by Spain will leave the country “in the next few days” to reach Ukraine by sea, where they will arrive before the end of April. The announcement was made at a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Reznikov, who traveled to Spain for the first time since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Reznikov highlighted Robles’ role in deciphering the shipment of Leopards to Ukraine and obtaining approval from Germany, the country that produces the battle tanks. In the same way, he revealed that the “Leopard coalition” was created after Robles offered to train Ukrainians at Latvian training grounds, where the NATO mission is located with the presence of a Spanish detachment and several tanks. Robles, for his part, announced that they will also deliver 20 TOA armored vehicles (tracked armored personnel carrier) and four other main battle tanks are being repaired for shipment to Ukraine. “Spain will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary,” the minister repeated. At the bilateral meeting, the Ukrainian defense minister asked the Spanish government for more support in three issues: anti-aircraft systems, artillery material and mortars and, as a more recent request, the implementation of training capabilities and technical assistance for amphibious warfare and amphibious landings.

The sinking of the ship Moskva Reznikov explained that one of his goals was to establish safe maritime traffic thanks to the “rest” of the territories located between the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov; and also sea water demining. To do this, accompanied by his head of the navy during a visit to Spain, he highlighted the experience of the Spanish navy – “one of the best in the world”, he said – and explained that Ukraine needs materials such as ships, drones, personal weapons or missiles.

In addition, he revealed that Spain had sent anti-ship Harpoon missiles to Ukraine, whose capability is essential to deter Russia. Namely, he recalled the sinking of the cruiser Moskva by the Ukrainian military and even joked that he offered to make a guide for diving trips to visit her remains at the bottom of the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian minister also insisted on the need for Ukraine to have a good air defense system, where he included a request for “new generation or F-16” fighter jets, and he is confident that they will eventually have a “coalition of fighters” to facilitate their transport, just as happened with battle tanks. Robles, however, reiterated that Spain cannot provide material it does not have, regarding the F-16 fighters. “Spain has what it has and will give according to its capabilities, what it does not have it cannot give”, he concluded.