Madrid is able to ship Ukraine its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and supply coaching to troopers as a part of a future operation coordinated by NATO allies, Defence Minister Margarita Robles mentioned on Wednesday following German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s greenlight.
In statements to EURACTIV’s associate EFE, Robles reiterated Madrid’s dedication to its NATO allies in response to Scholz giving his go-ahead for German-made tanks to be despatched to Ukraine, whether or not from Germany or another nation.
“Spain is prepared, by way of this coordination, to take care of our allies in any method that’s obligatory and which refers back to the sending of Leopard and coaching, and likewise to assist with their upkeep and maintenance,” Robles pressured in an interview with EFE, aired by Spanish public tv RTVE.
Spain can be out there to coach the Ukrainian troopers who will function the tanks, an operation that might take one month, in keeping with some specialists.
Spain might additionally practice the troopers, ideally on Spanish soil and never, for instance, in Latvia, the place Spain has deployed a small variety of Leopard 2E tanks, provided that simulators are situated in Madrid, the Spanish ministers additionally pressured.
Spain has 347 Leopard battle tanks, of which it bought 108 of the 2A4 mannequin, the oldest mannequin at the moment operational, from Germany within the Nineteen Nineties. The opposite 239 are the so-called 2E, a neighborhood model assembled in Spain, and one of the crucial fashionable.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
