WARSAW, March 7 (Reuters) – Poland will send 10 more German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine this week, Poland’s defense minister said on Tuesday.
“Four (tanks) are already in Ukraine, another 10 will go to Ukraine this week,” Mariusz Blaszczak told a press conference.
Poland promised to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks in total.
The minister was heading to a meeting of European Union defense ministers in Stockholm on Tuesday to discuss Europe’s security and support for Ukraine.
“We have also planned to speak with Boris Pistrius, the German Defense Minister. The fundamental issue we are going to talk about is the low availability of spare parts for Leopard tanks,” added Mariusz Blaszczak.
This problem could be solved mainly by the German arms industry, and Poland is ready to produce such parts, he added.
“We are ready to launch a service center in Poland, which will deal with the repair and maintenance of Leopard tanks delivered to Ukraine,” said Mariusz Blaszczak.
(Report Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz, French version Dina Kartit, edited by Kate Entringer)
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