The Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, announced this Friday that the forecast of the allied countries is to send the Leopard tanks to Ukraine in the spring and, meanwhile, proceed with the maintenance of the vehicles and instruction to the Ukrainians in their driving. In addition, she has claimed that this aid is the best way to work for peace and defend the Ukrainian people, in response to criticism from United We Can.
Robles traveled to Latvia this Friday to visit the 600 Spanish soldiers deployed at the Adazi base, 180 kilometers from the border with Russia. This is a NATO deterrence mission to which Spain also contributes the deployment of six Leopard tanks.
In this sense, the minister has confirmed that Spain will provide some of these vehicles to Ukraine "in coordination" with the rest of the allied countries, although she has not specified the number that the Government is considering.
As he explained, the forecast is to proceed with its shipment in a "coordinated" manner in spring, since he has previously assured that "his physical presence would not be necessary" on the ground. Meanwhile, he has pointed out that these two months will be used to train the crews of the vehicles and proceed with their maintenance.
Spain has already announced that its idea is to send some of the Leopard 2A4s that have been stored in Zaragoza for more than a decade and that need to be tuned up to be able to start up again, for which it has already been contact with the industry.
In addition, it has committed to the training of Ukrainians in driving cars, for which it has provided training modules that would last between two months and two and a half months, according to sources from the Ministry told Europa Press.
"We would not do anything if the different countries sent Leopard if there was not previously a job that is complicated and difficult for maintenance and crew training," insisted the minister from Latvia.
In addition, he has defended this decision in the face of criticism from his government partners from United We Can. "We are talking about supporting the citizens of Ukraine, who are being vilely massacred by Putin," Robles stressed.
In his opinion, "the best way to contribute to peace" is to help the Ukrainians and that is the objective of sending weapons, as he has insisted. "Let's not forget that the only one responsible for this war, the one who started this war and has rejected any diplomatic attempt has been Putin," he claimed.
