At a military training facility in Poland, Ukrainian tankers are taught the use and maintenance of the powerful Leopard 2A4 main battle tank by instructors from NATO Allies Poland and Norway. The Leopard 2A4 main battle tank is the mainstay of many NATO armies, including Norway and Poland, whose instructors aim to give the Ukrainian trainees the ability to become more self-sufficient in their training. On 2 July 2023, Ukraine had reportedly received 54 Leopard 2A4 from NATO-member countries.
The matter was discussed at a conference of defence ministers from NATO members and allies, but no agreement was reached. The German position was heavily criticized by some of the other European governments with Poland threatening to unilaterally export their Leopards if permission from Berlin was not given. The Polish and Ukrainian governments then announced that Ukrainian soldiers would start training on Polish Leopard 2 tanks in Poland. The German decision to provide and approve the provision of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine came after U.S. President Joe Biden decided to provide Ukraine with M1 Abrams tanks.
The decision to provide M1 Abrams tanks had previously been opposed by the Pentagon. On 15 February 2023, Pistorius expressed his frustration at Germany’s allies in their announcement of any donations of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, saying it had “not been exactly breathtaking, to put it mildly.” Since the change in German position on exports, only Poland had matched the German promise to provide 14 tanks – the two largest donations from a single country.
The training is part of the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM UA) and is designed to support Ukraine’s Army in its defence against Russia. NATO Allies continue to step up their support to Ukraine. Recent contributions include nearly 600 million euros from Germany for the Czech-led artillery initiative; as well as 10,000 drones from the United Kingdom; more missiles and armoured vehicles from France and a new package of aid from Finland worth 188 million euros.
