A Leopard 2 A6 main battle tank carries out manoeuvres during a visit by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to the Bundeswehr's Panzerbataillon 203 tank squadron on February 1, 2023 in Augustdorf, Germany. Germany will supply the armed forces of Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks and has begun training Ukrainian tank crews. Other European countries, including Spain, Finland, Norway and Poland, are also planning to provide Ukraine with Leopards soon, for a total of approximately 80 tanks, with more to be added later. (Photo by Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images) Officials did not give details on the number of tanks delivered to Kyiv at this stage, but Poland has earlier pledged that a company of Leopard tanks would be handed to Ukraine as part of coalition building.
"The prime minister couldn't be here, he went to Kyiv to bring Leopard tanks which are the first batch delivered to Ukraine," President Andrzej Duda said in his opening remarks at the meeting in Warsaw.
Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak later said the tanks have already reached Ukraine.
Warsaw's commitment has been instrumental in convincing European allies to donate heavy gear to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several capitals, including Berlin, until recently.
The first delivery comes less than a month after Polandsaid it aimed to get training time on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks for Ukrainian soldiers.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alex Richardson and Tomasz Janowski)