The head of Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, said that it would take Germany about a year to supply the Kyiv troops with tanks.
Papberger told the BILD am Sonntag newspaper: “The German company Rheinmetall owns 22 Leopard 2 tanks and 88 Leopard tanks, and if the German authorities allow their delivery to the Kyiv forces, they will need to be sent to Ukraine for a whole year.”
“Even if a decision is made to supply tanks to Kiev tomorrow, they will be delivered by next year, because all the tanks have been dismantled and assembled in preparation for hostilities,” Papberger said.
He pointed out that the German armed forces could supply the people of Kiev with Leopard tanks from their own reserves or allow other countries to re-export to Ukraine what they have.
On January 11, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced that Warsaw would provide the Kievans with a group of tanks.
For his part, German cabinet spokesman Steffen Heppestreet said that Berlin had not received any requests to re-export the tanks and confirmed that the Leopard tanks could not be delivered to Ukraine without the permission of Germany, which is responsible for their production.
It is noteworthy that the German authorities refuse to send battle tanks to Ukraine.
Source: TASS