Denmark and the Netherlands will hand over Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

Denmark and the Netherlands will purchase 14 Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark’s acting Defense Minister, announced this after the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that Ukraine needs all the support the West can provide.

“This is a large donation from the Danish side as part of a joint project with the Netherlands, where we are handing over 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine,” Rasmussen said.

The total value of the agreement reaches one billion Danish kroner (about $ 147 million), of which Denmark has to pay half.

The Acting Minister of Defense shared that he had already informed the Minister of Defense of Ukraine about the transfer. According to Troels Lund Poulsen, the statement was received positively.

Poulsen noted that these 14 tanks for Ukraine will be purchased from German industry and will not be associated with those already in service with Denmark. He also specified that the model of these tanks will be older than Leopard 2A7, which is currently in service with the country.

It is expected that the Leopard 2 tanks could be delivered in early 2024, says Troels Lund Poulsen.

The press release of the country’s Ministry of Defense also highlights that the official completion of cooperation depends on the permission of the Danish Finance Committee.

The Netherlands as part of the “tank coalition”

In January, it was announced that the Netherlands is considering providing Ukraine with 18 modern Leopard 2 main battle tanks, which they rented from Germany. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte stated this.

However, the following month, Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, stated that the tanks “are not part of the supply plan” because the German government has decided not to hand them over to Ukraine.

Currently, the Netherlands remains the only country in the so-called “tank coalition” that does not transfer its own tanks to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the country undertook to transfer spare parts and ammunition for these tanks.