BERLIN — Germany will send at least one company of its own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and also allow other European nations to deliver theirs, German media reported Tuesday.
A senior European official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the topic, confirmed the reports and said the government plans to announce the decision Wednesday.
The move was first reported by Der Spiegel magazine, which said the company of Leopard 2A6 tanks would be sent from German military stocks.
The apparent break in the deadlock over the tanks came after the Wall Street Journal reported that President Biden is considering sending U.S.-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine. Germany had previously said that a U.S. decision to send Abrams would help ease the way for it to send its own Leopard 2s, but later denied that there was any “linkage.”
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Other countries have offered different tanks: The United States will send its Bradley Fighting Vehicles but not its M1 Abrams tanks, while Britain has promised 14 Challenger 2 models this month. But the Leopard 2’s speed and ease of use — as well as the fact that there are many of them already in Europe — have made them more attractive to Kyiv. Even older versions of the tank have modern optics, including thermal imaging, that allow them to operate day and night.
Natalia Abbakumova, Vanessa Guinan-Bank, Shane Harris, John Hudson, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Dan Lamothe and Amar Nadhir contributed to this report.
*This story has not been edited by The Infallible staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.
