Germany blocks Leopard tanks transfer from Spain to Ukraine – Spiegel

The German authorities did not support Spain’s proposal to transfer Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine after their modernization.

This was reported by Spiegel, citing its own government sources.

The German authorities informed official Madrid that such a step would contradict Western allies’ decision (though unofficial) not to supply tanks to Ukraine.

“Since then, the Spaniards took a step back: the plan has not been politically agreed. Was it just an idea from someone at the lower level?” writes the publication.

According to the sources, Spanish representatives had to apologize to Berlin “because of the distress and pressure exerted on the Chancellor.”

“Therefore, it is no surprise that the federal government did not receive any applications for the supply of Spanish tanks to Ukraine,” – the source said.

Subsequently Madrid’s proposal was significantly reduced: if initially it was about 40 tanks, the current figure is closer to 10 units of equipment.

But that’s still not certain, as the Spanish Leopards require repairs and modernization.

On June 5, news broke out that Spain was ready to provide Ukraine with 40 Leopard 2A4 tanks from their reserve of ten years at the Zaragoza base.

Later Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the decision on the number of tanks to be handed over to Ukraine is not approved yet.

The problem is that the existing equipment needs significant modernization and decisions on repair work should be made first.