Canada May Send Up To 5 Leopard Tanks To Ukraine - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2023) Canada may send up to five Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine but has yet to make a decision, The Globe and Mail Newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

The CBC broadcaster reported, citing senior government officials, that Ottawa is considering the supply of 4-5 Leopard tanks to Kiev and may announce the delivery as early as Thursday. One of the sources told the broadcaster that Canada is likely to send Leopard 2A4 tanks � the oldest series in Ottawa's inventory.

According to the broadcaster, the Canadian military has 112 Leopard tanks, 82 of which are battle tanks, and 30 are designed to erect or destroy obstacles and perform other tasks.

Earlier on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had no announcement to make regarding deliveries of Leopard tanks to Ukraine but was looking at what more Ottawa can do to help Kiev.

Canada currently operates 80 Leopard 2A4 and 20 Leopard 2A6 tanks.

Earlier in the day, the German government said it would send 14 Leopard 2A6 battle tanks to Ukraine. In the near future, Germany will prepare two tank battalions for Ukraine (around 60 tanks). Ukrainian tank crews are expected to start their training in Germany soon.

The White House on Wednesday also confirmed the delivery of 31 Abrams tanks and eight M88 recovery vehicles to Ukraine.

Western countries ramped up their military support for Ukraine after Russia launched a special military operation there on February 24, 2022, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces.