Why doesn't Ukraine receive armored vehicles from Europe?

He said this on Espreso TV.

"Unfortunately, if we talk about the reality of today, there are huge problems. The first problem is that when we talk about the European segment of NATO, there are not many armored vehicles, including tanks. Practice shows that the notional tank brigade for Leopard 2 was not formed despite the efforts of many countries. The tanks were enough for a little more than two Leopard-2 tank battalions. The pace of armored vehicles restoration in Europe, including Leopard-2s, is not impressive, to put it bluntly, at all," Katkov explains.

According to him, back in April 2023, the Netherlands and Denmark announced that they would repair 11-14 Leopard-2 tanks and transfer them to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"Just a week ago, the Dutch Defense Ministry reported that Rheinmetall had just completed the overhaul of these two vehicles. Unfortunately, these are the realities of the European defense industry as it is, we have no other Rheinmetall, no other German industrial complex. All of this is objectively a negative factor that shows that it is difficult for European partners to transfer defense equipment such as a tank," the military expert emphasizes.

At the same time, there are supplies of Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles: "But when we say that it will be transferred from the stocks, we must objectively understand that the European segment of NATO does not have the same stocks as the United States.”

The United States should also have the capability to restore and overhaul equipment in order to transfer it to Ukraine.

"Because the United States is still in the middle of a political showdown and cannot agree on a budget for the current fiscal year, which will end in September, despite the fact that the fiscal year began in October last year, the aid to Ukraine totaling USD 60 billion is stuck. And because of this, it is impossible to agree on the supply of new weapons to Ukraine," summarized the editor-in-chief of Defence Express.

For reference. The Netherlands is a member of the International Tank Coalition, which supplies Ukraine with battle tanks. Earlier, the Netherlands, along with Denmark and Germany, purchased Leopard-1 tanks for Ukraine.

• In March 2023, nine countries announced their intention to provide Ukraine with more than 150 Leopard tanks. In addition, the Swedish government decided to provide Ukraine with ten Leopard 2 tanks to prepare for a counteroffensive.
• NATO countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain, will purchase up to 1,000 missiles for Patriot systems to strengthen the Alliance's air defense after Russia's massive missile attacks against Ukraine.
• On January 16, the German manufacturer Rheinmetall completed the overhaul of the first 2 of 14 Leopard 2 A4 tanks for Ukraine ordered by the Netherlands and Denmark, so the equipment is ready for delivery.