The ministers of defense of Denmark and the Netherlands released a joint statement on Thursday announcing the donation of 14 Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks to Ukraine, reported Xinhua.
The two countries intend to jointly acquire, refurbish and deliver, at an estimated cost of 165 million euros "equally divided between the two nations," the tanks from early 2024.
"In this way, we will jointly take part in the 'Leopard 2 coalition', supported by many partners and allies," Troels Lund Poulsen, Denmark's acting defense minister, said in the statement.
The declaration refers to an international tank coalition consisting of "a number of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries" established to donate Leopard 2 and other modern tanks donated by the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
The Danish government has already received approval from its Foreign Policy Council for the collaboration with the Netherlands, and the acting defense minister will now inform the other 50 countries behind the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) of the intended donation when they meet on Friday at Ramstein Airbase in Germany.
"The formal conclusion of the collaboration is of course conditional on grant-related authority being granted from the Finance Committee," the Ministry of Defense press release said.
The announcement follows a decision made in February 2023, when the Danish government entered into a partnership with Germany and the Netherlands to donate at least 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks, the first of which are "expected to be ready for Ukrainian training within the coming weeks," the Ministry of Defense said.
- Denmark
- Netherlands
- Leopard 2 tanks
- Ukraine
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
