Switzerland cannot directly transfer weapons to Ukraine due to its neutrality but is considering sending its military equipment to Ukraine’s allies so that they could transfer similar weapons to Kyiv from their own stockpiles.

Bloomberg reported this.

The announcement that Germany and other European states would send their tanks to Ukraine to defend against Russian attacks has intensified a debate in the capital Bern about how and when Switzerland could help Ukraine.

“The war changed the debate in Switzerland. We cannot give up neutrality, but we need to discuss what opportunities we have to support countries that uphold the same democratic values as Switzerland,” says Maja Riniker, a Member of the Swiss parliament who presented the proposal to transfer the tanks.

Swiss Leopard 2

Currently, the Swiss armed forces have about 300 Leopard 2A4 tanks in service, operating them under the index Pz 87. Most of them are manufactured in Switzerland under license, and only 35 tanks were purchased from Germany.

In a bunker in mountainous eastern Switzerland, nearly 100 Leopard 2 tanks have been mothballed. They are intended for decommissioning and have been there for almost ten years, but they remain operational. This is almost a third of all Leopards that Switzerland has.

A Swiss Defense Ministry Spokeswoman shared that any sale of the tanks would require large-scale decommissioning and therefore a parliamentary resolution.

According to her, Switzerland has not yet received any request from Germany to sell tanks to the manufacturer Rheinmetall AG, nor has it received any requests from other countries.

Militarnyi reported that Poland sent a request to Switzerland to supply Leopard 2A4 tanks, arguing that Warsaw transferred part of its weapons, including tanks, to Ukraine.

However, the Swiss authorities rejected the request. The Poles were refused allegedly because the transfer or sale of these tanks required parliamentary approval. This is a long and complicated process.

Therefore, the Swiss reported that they would not be able to complete the transfer of tanks within a short period of time.