German MoD says there was "no alternative" to decision regarding Leopard-2 tank approval

The German government has agreed to hand over the state-of-art German main battle tanks "Leopard 2" to Kyiv, as Ukraine needs to be supported in the war against Russian aggression and there is simply "no alternative in this matter".

This was stated by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in an interview with the German ARD broadcaster, as reported by the Tagesschau, following Chancellor Olaf Scholz's speech at the Bundestag on January 25 announcing this decision, which has been heavily discussed among various leaders in recent months.

The newly appointed defence minister stressed, however, that the supply of tanks to Ukraine does not make Germany a party to the war.

All allies, "including American friends", are working together, Germany is not alone in its decision and therefore is not the main opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Pistorius.

The head of the German defense department also said that he intends to quickly replenish the Bundeswehr reserves after sending the armoured vehicles to Ukraine, for which talks with the German defense industry are scheduled for next week.

The German government decided to provide the Ukrainian forces with a company of tanks (14 units) of the Leopard-2A6 line from the Bundeswehr. Berlin also approved the re-export of their machines to other countries, which was impatiently awaited by several allied countries, that have expressed their willingness to provide Kyiv with their own Leopard-2 tanks earlier.

According to the German Spiegel publication, European countries plan to provide Ukraine with a total of 80 Leopard tanks.