The minister will visit Ukraine in the next four weeks.

New German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced his trip to Ukraine, he said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.

Pistorius was asked where he would go first in his new post. To which the minister replied: “There is no doubt that I will go to Ukraine soon. It will probably happen within the next four weeks.”

He specified that Berlin conducts a “very close dialogue” with international partners about the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

“In order to be well prepared for possible solutions, I instructed my department to check everything on Friday so that we don’t waste time unnecessarily if the worst happens,” Pistarius said.

As Business Insider reported the day before, former Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, prior to her resignation earlier this week, prohibited the military department from conducting an inventory of Leopard and Leopard 2 tanks in the German army.

Sources consider the desire to avoid additional pressure on the German government to be the possible reason for this behavior of the former minister.

Tanks Leopard for Ukraine – what is known

Despite the encouraging statements of a number of countries about their readiness to supply Leopard to Ukraine, the transfer of tanks was never approved at the Ramstein meeting on January 19.

It was reported that the countries had extensive discussions on this matter, which have not yet been marked by any single decision. In order for Ukraine to receive the Leopard from the same Poland, this transfer must, according to the export license, be agreed by Berlin.

There is no decision on the supply of American Abrams heavy tanks either. Washington in all its statements refers to the difficulty of maintaining this technique.

At the same time, a group of Ukrainian soldiers will already be sent to train on Leopard and British Challenger 2. This may be a good sign that Leopard will soon appear on the Ukrainian front.