KCanada has begun the announced delivery of four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. On Saturday, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand tweeted video footage showing the first 2A4 tank being loaded onto a transport plane in the city of Halifax.

Last weekend, Portugal also made a firm commitment to supply the Leopard 2 tanks “by the end of March”. Prime Minister Antonio Costa said during a visit to the Central African Republic that the exact number would be announced “in due course”. The Portuguese newspaper reports that Lisbon is preparing to deliver four tanks of the A6 version has not yet been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Poland and Britain began training Ukrainian soldiers on Western tank models. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said during a visit to kyiv that Ukrainian soldiers were already being trained on Leopards in Poland. Modalities for delivering the tanks themselves will be discussed with NATO allies at a meeting in mid-February.

“A series of abstruse historical comparisons”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a phone call to Zelenskyy on Saturday that Ukrainian crews were already being trained on Britain’s Challenger-2 main battle tanks. The training started this week.

“Der Spiegel” previously reported that the Federal Government had entered into intensive contacts with the partners in order to organize the delivery of the promised Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine. When the decision to deliver the tank was announced in the Bundestag, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announced that he would “quickly form two tank battalions” for Ukraine with his allies.

Germany wants to send 14 tanks in the A6 version. In the Bundeswehr, a battalion usually consists of 44 main battle tanks. The Americans also promised to provide 31 Abrams tanks, the equivalent of a Ukrainian battalion. The “Spiegel” reported that building up the battalions was difficult due to the lack of delivery commitments from European partners. In Berlin, it was confirmed that there should be two battalions.

Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that deliveries of “German tanks” once again threatened Russia, Scholz told “Bild am Sonntag”: “His words are part of a series of abstruse historical comparisons on which he bases his attack on justifying Ukraine.When asked if there was an agreement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the weapons of the West would only be used on Ukrainian territory and that Russia would not would not be attacked on its territory, Scholz replied: “There is a consensus on that.”

Referring to former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s claim that Putin personally threatened him over the phone, Scholz said: “No, Putin didn’t threaten me or Germany. In the phone calls,” our very different views on the war in Ukraine have become very clear. I say very clearly to Putin that Russia alone is responsible for the war.