Germany is ready to order 18 Leopard 2 tanks to replace the combat vehicles transferred to Kyiv. Additionally, Berlin will order another 105 such tanks at a total cost of around 2.9 billion euros ($3.2 billion), Bloomberg reports, citing government sources.
According to the agency, the budget committee of the lower house of the Bundestag must approve at the end of May an initial order for 18 tanks worth around 525 million euros. Interlocutors of the agency called this order the last in terms of modernization of the German armed forces, which was changed after the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine.
Besides an annual defense budget of around 50 billion euros, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition has also set up a special fund of 100 billion euros. With its help, the authorities will try to fill the gap in the supply of weapons to the Bundeswehr, which has grown due to its many years of underfunding.
The German Defense Ministry confirmed to the agency that the government was conducting preliminary negotiations on the purchase of 18 Leopard tanks, but did not release details, citing the fact that negotiations were still ongoing.
Earlier it was reported that at the end of April in the area of the special military operation there was a clear confirmation of the supply of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The video, which has been circulating on social media, shows a convoy of military vehicles driven by members of the Ukrainian army.
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