The Leopard 2 was originally designed in the 1970s for the West German army in response to Soviet threats during the Cold War.

The German-made Leopard 2 is one of the most well-reputed battle tanks in the world, perhaps second only to the U.S.-made M1 Abrams tank, military arms experts said. 'We cannot say today when a decision will come and what it will look like,' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Friday.

Germany has come under growing pressure to provide some to Ukraine - or to allow other countries, like Poland, to send theirs. Recent debate has centered on the Leopard 2, a German-made battle tank operated by about 20 countries worldwide, including more than a dozen NATO members.

'But hundreds of 'thank you' are not hundreds of tanks,' he said. 'I can thank you hundreds of times, and it will be absolutely just and fair, given all that we have already done,' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at this week's meeting of defense officials in Ramstein, Germany. and its NATO allies have announced another package of military aid to Ukraine, full of military vehicles, air defense systems, rockets and missiles, a notable omission is the one piece of equipment that has come to dominate recent talks: tanks.įor months, Ukrainian officials have pressed the West for hundreds of modern battle tanks like those made by the U.S. A German Leopard 2 battle tank pictured during a NATO training exercise in Lithuania last October.

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