Allies plan to send 80 tanks to AFU, forming 2 Leopard battalions

Spiegel reported the information on a large package of European military aid for Ukraine: partner countries are seeking to establish 2 battalions of Leopard tanks for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, each of which will contain 40 units of equipment.  The German tanks could be delivered by the end of March.

"Accordingly, Germany is participating by providing a company of Leopard 2A6 tanks for the battalion; Finland, Spain, and the Netherlands are also said to be providing tanks of this model. A second battalion of 2A4 Leopards is being assembled by Poland and Norway. It is noted that the third battalion will arrive from the United States with about 30 M1 Abrams main battle tanks," the Spiegel article says.

There are reports that US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak intend to hold a phone conversation on the afternoon of January 25 to discuss further steps.

• Earlier, Poland announced it was ready to provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard tanks and hoped that other NATO countries would follow suit and manage to assemble at least an armored brigade.

• On January 14, Rishi Sunak confirmed during a phone conversation with Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Britain would provide Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks. 

• Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said his country was ready to participate in the supply of tanks to Ukraine.

• The Netherlands may buy 18 Leopard 2 tanks that were leased from Germany and transfer them to Ukraine as part of a tank coalition.

• French officials are considering the possibility of transferring their own Leclerc battle tanks to Ukraine to provide Berlin with a common platform for Leopard 2 deliveries.

• On January 24, the Wall Street Journal published news that the Biden administration was leaning toward sending a significant number of Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine.

• On January 25, it was announced that Ukraine would receive 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the Bundeswehr, and Germany allowed partner countries to provide Ukrainian defenders with German tanks from their own stocks.

• At the same time, Spain changed its decision to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons to counter Russian aggression. Madrid may now send Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.