Defense plans to prepare 'Leopard' from those stored in Zaragoza for shipment to Ukraine

MADRID, 26 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, announced this Thursday that the Government is working with the intention of preparing some of the 'Leopard' tanks stored in Zaragoza for more than a decade for shipment to Ukraine.

In statements to the media, Robles has avoided specifying the number of vehicles that Spain could provide to Ukraine and has explained that the decision will be taken in coordination with the rest of the allied countries.

The first contact will be at 7:30 p.m. through a videoconference meeting called by the new German Defense Minister, Boris Pistorious, with the seven countries using the 'Leopard' 2E, in which the times required for its enlistment and aspects of training, maintenance, spare parts and transport logistics support.

At the moment, Robles has announced that Defense has already contacted the military industry to study the possibility of fine-tuning some of the 'Leopard' 2A4 stored in a warehouse in Zaragoza since 2012.

Specifically, they were housed in the Casetas Logistics Center of the Logistics Support Group No. 41 of the Army with the intention of transforming them into special sapper vehicles and bridge-launching vehicles, which ultimately never materialized.

"We have already contacted the industry because there is a series of 2A4 'Leopard' in Zaragoza that have been out of use for a long time and we are going to see which ones could be put into operation to plan that delivery," the minister detailed on Thursday.

In any case, he has advanced that the idea of ​​the allied countries is that the delivery to Ukraine be joint so that the tanks can act in a coordinated manner, although the chain of maintenance and spare parts that this vehicle needs is concerned.

"It is not about simply saying that we are sending, but rather that the shipment has to be accompanied by personnel who know how to maintain it, sustain it and who know how to handle it, which is not easy," Robles insisted.

In fact, he has assured that this same Wednesday he received a request from the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, for the training of his troops in the use of the 'Leopard' in Spain, an offer that the Department of Robles has already formalized in modules of instruction of about two months or two months and a half of duration.

As for the criticism of United We Can, Robles has stressed that Spain "is firmly committed to peace" and believes that the best way to do it is to participate in the coordinated shipment of "defensive material" to Ukraine to help its citizens, " that is being cruelly massacred" by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We all want peace and that Putin's illegitimate invasion that is causing a lot of damage stops. The important thing is Spain's commitment to peace, the sending of material has always been to work for peace and protect and defend the life of the Ukrainian citizens, who are being cruelly attacked by Putin," he insisted.