Germany approves Leopards for Ukraine, as U.S. promises M1 tanks By Loveday Morris, Emily Rauhala, Karen DeYoung and Dan Lamothe, Updated January 25, 2023

  

Germany approves Leopards for Ukraine, as U.S. promises M1 tanks

By Loveday Morris, Emily Rauhala, Karen DeYoung and  Dan Lamothe, 

Updated January 25, 2023

at 8:17 a.m. EST|Published January 25, 2023 at 4:09 a.m. EST

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz delivers a speech in front of a Leopard 2 tank during a visit to a military base of the German army Bundeswehr in Bergen, Germany, Oct. 17, 2022. (Fabian Bimmer/Reuters)

BERLIN — The German government announced plans Wednesday to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries to send theirs, ending months of debate among Western allies and unlocking a package for scores of tanks that could help shift the balance on the battlefield.

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In Europe, the goal is to quickly assemble two Leopard tank battalions — equivalent to at least 70 tanks — for Ukraine, the German government said in a statement. As a first step, Germany will provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its army’s stocks. European allies will also provide tanks with German approval.

The Biden administration is also due to announce Wednesday that it will send the main U.S. battle tank, the M1 Abrams, though probably not until at least the fall, a senior U.S. official with knowledge of the situation said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Washington is expected to send at least 30.

Ukrainian officials are counting on the Leopards — which are fast, relatively easy to operate and plentiful in Europe — to help their forces gain an advantage on the battlefield. It is unclear when the German tanks could be delivered and whether they could be part of the much anticipated spring offensive.

For Ukraine, what’s so special about Germany’s Leopard 2 tanks?

Berlin had long resisted calls to send tanks without acting in tandem with allies, saying that it did not want to be seen as a direct participant in the war, inviting retaliation potential from Russia. In recent weeks, German officials had been more explicit in linking any decision to send tanks to a similar move by the United States.

But intense international pressure — and an apparent reversal of Washington’s position on sending its battle tanks — appears to have broken the logjam. In a speech to parliament on Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his decision to take time to coordinate with allies.

“It is correct to never go it alone,” he said. “We will do anything necessary to support Ukrainey, but we want to avoid an escalation of this war, so it doesn’t become a war between Russia and NATO.”

Even as Scholz reminded lawmakers of Germany’s close geographical proximity to the war, Russia’s ambassador to Berlin warned that the decision to send tanks to Ukraine had crossed a red line and compared it to Nazi tanks invading Russia during World War II.

“This extremely dangerous decision takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation,” Sergei Nechaev said in a statement following the announcement. “Red lines are a thing of the past.”

As manufacturer of the Leopard 2, Germany held the key to the entire package of tanks being prepared for delivery to Ukraine because Berlin’s approval is required for reexport. Poland and a number of other European members of NATO had indicated they are prepared to send Leopard 2s. Finland, Greece, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey all own at least 100 of them.

Polish Leopard 2 tanks in November. (Darek Delmanowicz/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock)

Germany’s move is a first step, and it is also possible that more Leopard 2 tanks will be sent from German stocks, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Wednesday.

“The decision to release and deliver the Leopard 2 was a tough one, but inescapable,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the German parliament’s defense committee tweeted. “It is redeeming news for the battered and brave Ukraine.”

Leaders of NATO allies welcomed the move. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described it as the “right decision,” as Britain announced it would send battle tanks of its own. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki thanked Scholz and called it “a big step toward stopping Russia. Together we are stronger.”

European allies had hoped to announce a package of Leopards at a meeting on Ukraine at Ramstein Air Base in Germany last week. But Berlin’s new defense minister had said Germany needed more time to make a “careful” decision and assess its stocks.

As Germany dragged its feet, Poland, which is planning to send a company of Leopards, or 14 tanks, had threatened to do so with or without Berlin’s permission. On Tuesday, Poland formally requested German authorization for reexport, ramping up pressure on Berlin to come to a decision.

Agreeing to send the Leopards is a big step toward Ukraine ending the war “by winning it,” said Norbert Röttgen, a parliamentarian with the Christian Democrats and foreign policy expert. But it is a “catastrophic signal” that Germany rejected European action on tanks without American contribution, he tweeted.

Sudha David-Wilp, director of the German Marshall Fund’s Berlin office, also noted that it took the United States to get the deal going. “Germany came through at the last minute. But it was obvious that it was very skittish to put itself forward.”

Pentagon says U.S. to support Ukraine amid tanks talks

1:31

Pentagon spokesperson said on Jan. 24 that the U.S. would support Ukraine's security requirements after President Biden decides to send M1 Abrams tanks. (Video: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE)

Ukrainian officials and U.S. lawmakers had urged the Biden administration to approve even a small number of Abrams tanks, arguing it would provide Berlin with the cover it needed to feel comfortable sending its own tanks.

Another U.S. official said the United States was expected to order at least 31 Abrams tanks and eight support vehicles under the plan. They’ll be purchased using money from the congressionally provided Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, rather than pulled from the U.S. arsenal, as many other weapons sent to Ukraine have been, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

As recently as last week, though, senior U.S. officials insisted that the Abrams would be too burdensome for the Ukrainian military to operate and maintain.

M1 Abrams tanks during NATO exercises in Latvia in 2021. (Ints Kalnins/Reuters)

“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” Undersecretary of Defense Colin Kahl told reporters last week, after returning from a visit to Kyiv. “The Abrams is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive. It’s hard to train on.”

The addition of more modern tanks into Ukraine’s military raises questions about how the United States or its allies might train Ukrainian forces to use them and incorporate them into battlefield formations with other recently provided Western equipment.

Polish officials said last week they planned to begin training Ukrainians on Leopards within days.

U.S. to give Ukraine advanced M1 tanks

Another possibility might be training a larger number of Ukrainian forces at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany’s Bavarian countryside. The U.S. facility, the largest of its kind in Europe, began hosting a battalion of more 600 Ukrainian troops this month to learn how to incorporate artillery, infantry fighting vehicles, and other Western weapons into “combined-arms” warfare to go on the offense. The facility also is used for tank training.

Western leaders have argued that heavy tanks are needed to shift the balance of power on the battlefield ahead of a possible offensive.

But Franz-Stefan Gady, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, questioned whether Germany’s Leopard’s would indeed shape short-term dynamics.

“At this stage, due in part to Germany delaying the decision, it is unlikely that the Leopard 2 will play a significant role in any spring offensive,” he said. “Will they make it in time? Will the crews be trained?”

There is a big logistics chain behind one of these tanks making it to the battleground — heavy transport, recovery vehicles, refuel vehicles — and that this will take time to set up, he said.

In that sense, the significance of the German decision “stems from its political implications — the fact that Germany is more deeply committed to this conflict,” he continued.

Russia’s strategy is to draw out the fighting and break western support. Sending the Leopards shows Moscow that the “West’s support is going to continue no matter what.”

Lamothe and DeYoung reported from Washington. Vanessa Guinan-Bank in Berlin contributed.

By Loveday Morris, Emily Rauhala, Karen DeYoung and Dan Lamothe