Welt: The Netherlands and Denmark will not supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine
The governments of the Netherlands and Denmark have announced that neither country will deliver Leopard-2 tanks, reports the German news source Welt.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the only tanks his country could provide in theory were 18 Leopard-2 tanks leased to the country from Germany. Both countries decided that these tanks were not available for Ukraine.
The Danish government, which possesses 44 tanks in its arsenal, told Welt that it would not participate in Germany's tank coalition. However, both the Netherlands and Denmark have committed financial resources to refurbishing 100 Leopard-1 tanks in German warehouses.
Finland has not yet pledged tanks to Ukraine. Welt referenced a recent Wall Street Journal article from Feb. 9 in which a senior NATO official was quoted as saying Finalnd would likely not make such a commitment until it was granted NATO membership.
Polish defense minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Feb. 14 following the Ramstein-format meeting in Brussels that they were working to ensure Finland would provide tanks. "Today, the Finnish (defense) minister said he's very close to making a decision," added Blaszczak.
