British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said that many countries did not find serviceable tanks to send to Ukraine after the political decision was made. In an interview with a German edition The mirror he noted that the Bundeswehr has such problems and “in other states the situation is no different.”
“There are obvious problems. There is a political solution, it is true, but many countries are finding that their armies do not have serviceable tanks to supply,” Mr. Wallace said. TASS). According to him, countries had to admit that their tanks were either out of order or not repaired for deliveries. “We were all forced to realize with pain that our armies have been exhausted to a greater or lesser extent over the past 30 years,” the minister added.
Ben Wallace noted that the Allies have information about how many tanks they have. However, in reality, “too few of them are serviceable.” According to the minister, the same situation has developed with the supply of ammunition. At the same time, Mr. Wallace does not consider tanks a “magic potion” that can immediately change the situation on the battlefield, so he attaches great importance to the training of the Ukrainian army.
Britain, Germany and the United States in January for the first time agreed to transfer Western-made tanks to Ukraine – Challenger, Leopard and Abrams, respectively. Germany also allowed the re-export of Leopard from other countries. The coalition to send German tanks includes eight countries: Germany, Denmark, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Portugal. According to Die Welt, the Netherlands and Denmark refused to supply Leopard 2 tanks, but promised to help repair Leopard 1 tanks.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had previously reproached the allies for failing to deliver tanks to Ukraine. For several months, Berlin’s partners urged the FRG to approve the delivery of German tanks.
