The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark to give Ukraine a three-digit number of Leopard 1 tanks

The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark have agreed to cooperate in delivering about a hundred Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from industrial warehouses in Germany.

“The Netherlands, together with Germany and Denmark, will supply at least 100 Leopard-1A5 battle tanks to Ukraine,” Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch deputy prime minister and foreign minister, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “The Ukrainians need them in their resistance against Russian aggression. The Netherlands will make a financial and personnel contribution.”

The Netherlands, together with Germany and Denmark, will supply at least 100 Leopard-1A5 battle tanks to #Ukraine. The Ukrainians need them in their resistance against Russian aggression. The Netherlands will make a financial and personnel contribution. @DmytroKuleba @MFA_Ukraine

— Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) February 7, 2023

A similar tweet was posted by Kajsa Ollongren, the defense minister of the Netherlands.

Simultaneously, Denmark stated that retired Leopard 1A5 tanks must be dusted off, made ready and sent to the battlefield in Ukraine, according to DR. These are Leopard tanks of older manufacture, which are no longer part of the Danish Armed Forces. In 2010, the tanks were sold to the company FFG in Flensburg, Germany, and are still there.

It is expected that the collaboration can bring a three-digit number of the older German tanks to the battlefields in Ukraine. The first tanks are expected to arrive within a few months.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, after meeting Ukraine’s President of Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, tweeted that Leopard 2 A6 battle tanks from Germany will be made available for Ukraine at the end of March.

However, he did not specify the number of tanks.

Nächste konkrete Schritte für unsere 🇺🇦 Unterstützung: Verteidigungsminister Pistorius sprach heute in der #Ukraine u.a. mit Präsident @ZelenskyyUa und seinem Amtskollegen @oleksiireznikov. Ende März stehen die #Kampfpanzer #Leopard 2 A6 aus 🇩🇪 zur Verfügung. pic.twitter.com/mAbgiza4Sp

— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) February 7, 2023

According to UNIAN, Pistorius said that he and Reznikov discussed the supply of Leopard A1 tanks to Ukraine in conjunction with European partners. “There will be some 20 to 25 [tanks] before the summer, around 80 by the end of the year, and over 100 during 2024,” Pistorius was quoted as saying.