US Secretary of Defence: 8 countries to supply Kyiv with tanks, Leopards from Poland to arrive in Ukraine in March

Lloyd Austin, the US Secretary of Defence, has announced that eight countries will send tanks to Ukraine during a press-conference at NATO HQ in Brussels, attended by a reporter for Novaya-Europe.

This was decided during a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine’s defence held in the “Ramstein format”. Austin said that the eight countries that would provide Ukraine with advanced tanks are Germany, Poland, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

“This includes a major contribution from the United States: Stryker, Bradleys and Abrams tanks. It includes the UK’s donation of Challenger tanks, … also includes the refurbished T-72 tanks of the United States, the Netherlands, and Czechia, as well as Poland’s latest donation of T-72,” Austin stressed.

The US, the Netherlands, and Czechia will provide Ukraine with around 90 tanks altogether. Italy and France jointly announced that they would provide Ukraine with SAMP/T air defence systems.

France also announced that it would work with Australia ro ramp up 155 mm ammunition production to support Ukraine. “And finally we also thank Norway, which just announced that it would provide €7.5 billion in military and civilian supplies to Ukraine over the coming five years,” Austin stated.

The first Leopard tanks from Poland will arrive in Ukraine in March, the country’s MoD announced on Twitter.

The ninth meeting of a contact group on Ukraine’s defence started at NATO’s HQ in Brussels using the “Ramstein” format. Oleksiy Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defence Minister, was present at the meeting.

“We see no signs that President Putin is preparing for peace. What we see is the opposite, he is preparing for more war, for new offensives and new attacks,” Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, said.

“The urgent need now is to deliver what has always been promised, to deliver the armoured vehicles, the infantry fighting vehicles, the German Marders, the US Bradleys, and also, the main battle tanks, the Leopards, and the other battle tanks that have been pledged,” he stated.

Stoltenberg also noted that the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine “is not the most urgent issue now, but it is an ongoing discussion.”

Stoltenberg also announced that the wait time for large-calibre munitions has increased for Ukraine from 12 to 28 months, meaning that orders placed now would only be delivered in two and a half years.

The meeting of defence ministers of NATO states is taking place in Brussels on 14 and 15 February. Apart from representatives from NATO countries, defence ministers of Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden are also present.