Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov said this week that Ukrainian forces will begin training on the control of German Leopard tanks in Poland, despite the fact that Berlin and its NATO allies have not yet reached an agreement on supplying tanks to Kiev.
Speaking to the US media, Reznikov said that in addition to Poland, "nations with Leopard tanks could start training our tank teams."
We will start with that and go from there. I hope Germany will follow their procedures, conduct internal consultations and will decide to transfer tanks. I am optimistic about this because the first step has been taken, the Ukrainian Defense Minister emphasized.
Reznikov spoke after a meeting in Germany of the US-led "Defense contact group" - a group of nearly 50 countries that meet regularly to commit to providing new weapons to Ukraine.
Germany has not committed to providing Leopard 2 battle tanks or allowing other European countries to export Leopard 2 reserves to Ukraine.
However, Poland has signaled that it will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine even without German permission. While Berlin's approval is a legal requirement, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said this week that "agreement is a secondary issue" and that his government would "do the right thing itself if necessary."
Reznikov is not the only Ukrainian official waiting for Germany to approve the transfer of tanks. Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told German TV: "Germany will do it anyway a day later. We have seen this happen to self- propelled artillery, IRIS-T air defense systems and most recently the Marder and patriot systems.
