Ambassador of Ukraine to France: West promises Ukraine 321 tanks

On January 27, the Ambassador of Ukraine to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said on the air of a French TV channel that Western countries had promised Kyiv 321 tanks to confront the Russian army.

The statement was made during the live show on the French BFMTV channel.

“Today, many countries have officially confirmed their consent to the supply of 321 tanks to Ukraine,” the Ambassador said on TV.

At the same time, Vadym Omelchenko announced obstacles to obtaining these tanks quickly.

“As for delivery terms, they are different in each case,” Omelchenko emphasized.

He explained that regrouping, sending and preparing the Ukrainian military for the use of Western tanks was still to last several months.

“Some [countries – ed.] need to perform maintenance, others are resolving logistics issues, the rest are waiting for other models to give the ones they give,” the Ambassador explained on BFMTV.

Thus, the Spanish Ministry of Defense plans to repair its Leopard 2A4, which is supposed to be sent to Ukraine, in three months.

The tanks must undergo a long process of de-preservation and repair, since they have long been preserved without maintenance. This was stated by Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles in a comment to reporters.

“In Zaragoza, there are Leopard 2A4 storage tanks that haven’t been used for a long time, and we are going to check which ones can be put into operation for transfer to Ukraine,” she said.

According to Robles, the exact number of tanks to go to Ukraine will be determined by following consultations with partner countries.

In Zaragoza, the Spanish army stores 53 of the existing 108 Leopard 2A4 tanks, which were leased from Germany in 1998 and acquired for 17 million euros later in 2006. The fifty stored machines are in different storage conditions.