Canada and allies agree spare parts supply for tanks transferred to Ukraine
Tanks Leopard 2 (Photo:REUTERS/Ints Kalnins)
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand has discussed with six other of her counterparts the issue of supplying Ukraine with spare parts for tanks, she wrote on Twitter on Feb. 3.
"I met with colleagues from Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Germany and Sweden this morning to discuss the sustainment of the military equipment that we’re sending to Ukraine, such as Leopard 2 main battle tanks," Anand wrote.
She noted that Canada is going to work together with other Ukrainian partner nations on providing "training, spare parts, and ammunition."
On Jan. 25, after much hesitation, Germany approved the sending of 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, as well as tank re-export licenses for other countries. The same day, the U.S. announced the transfer of 31 Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian front line. Germany's Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, said the first delivery can be as soon as by the end of March.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said that Ukraine is to receive about 120-140 modern tanks as the first way of heavy weapons supplies. According to him, 12 countries are currently in the tank coalition.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed earlier that Ukraine needs from 300 to 500 tanks to launch a counter-offensive.
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