Madrid is ready to send Ukraine its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and offer training to soldiers as part of a future operation coordinated by NATO allies, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday following German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s greenlight.
In statements to EURACTIV’s partner EFE, Robles reiterated Madrid’s commitment to its NATO allies in response to Scholz giving his go-ahead for German-made tanks to be sent to Ukraine, whether from Germany or any other country.
“Spain is ready, through this coordination, to deal with our allies in any way that is necessary and which refers to the sending of Leopard and training, and also to help with their maintenance and upkeep,” Robles stressed in an interview with EFE, aired by Spanish public television RTVE.
Spain is also available to train the Ukrainian soldiers who will operate the tanks, an operation that could take one month, according to some experts.
Spain could also train the soldiers, preferably on Spanish soil and not, for example, in Latvia, where Spain has deployed a small number of Leopard 2E tanks, given that simulators are located in Madrid, the Spanish ministers also stressed.
Spain has 347 Leopard battle tanks, of which it purchased 108 of the 2A4 model, the oldest model currently operational, from Germany in the 1990s. The other 239 are the so-called 2E, a local version assembled in Spain, and one of the most modern.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
