In addition, Ukraine will receive about 80 Leopard A1 tanks by the end of this year, and more than 100 in 2024.

During a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the arrival of the first Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine at the end of March, the Bundeswehr’s Twitter account says.

At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, hinted at “a lot of news” based on the results of the negotiations with Pistorius.

“We had a fruitful conversation. This is our second meeting after the meeting in the Rammstein format. Soon there will be another one in the same format, but in Brussels. There will be a lot of positive news. We discussed not only the conditions for protecting our skies, but also cooperation and for the future, and after the victory,” Reznikov emphasized.

Details of negotiations – Pistorius’ statement on the transfer of Leopard 1

Pistorius said that he discussed with Reznikov options for speeding up the production of ammunition for Ukraine, in particular for air defense systems.

“I have been in my position for about 2 weeks. I want to express solidarity with Ukraine. I have admiration and respect for your people and Ukrainian soldiers. A Ukrainian soldier is determined. There should be no doubt that we will continue to stand by Ukraine in the future,” – Pistorius noted.

UPDATED 9:30 p.m. Also, according to Pistorius, he discussed with Reznikov the supply of Leopard A1 tanks to Ukraine together with European partners. “There will be 20-25 of them by the summer, about 80 by the end of the year, and more than 100 units by 2024,” he said.

Pistorius emphasized that “Germany is doing everything possible to support the Armed Forces, because we are on your side. We believe that Ukraine will not surrender, and the will to defend its land will overcome everything.”

The day before, a number of Western media reported on the approval by the German government of the re-export of over a hundred Leopard 1 battle tanks for the needs of Ukrainian forces. At the same time, the German concern Rheinmetall notes that it is ready to transfer only 20-25 units of this equipment to Ukraine this year. Another 88 – the next one.

Sending German tanks to Ukraine – what is known

Leopard 1 tanks, like Leopard 2 tanks, will in any case come too late for military defense against the spring offensive of the Russian military, experts believe.

Germany hesitated too long to supply battle tanks and thus did little to help Ukraine in terms of political strategy.

In the West, they believe that the next six months will be critical in the Russian-Ukrainian war and will determine whether Putin will negotiate.