The Defense Minister of PolandMariusz Blaszczak, announced this Thursday that his country delivered to Ukraine the ten Leopard 2A4 tanks additional money he had promised the country at war with Russia. “We are talking about a battalion of heavy tanks which, in the case of Poland, have already been delivered, and in the case of our allies, they will be delivered to Ukraine very soon,” Blaszczak told reporters.
Poland had promised at the end of January to send a total of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to kyiv and the first four have already been delivered on February 24, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. “In addition to the 14 Polish Leopard tanks there are also eight Canadian tanks in this battalion, eight Norwegian tanks and six Spanish tanksBlaszczak said.
In parallel, the head of the Polish presidential office, Paweł Szrot, maintained that Poland is willing to hand over some of its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighters. Szrot made this statement after President Andrzej Duda said Wednesday in Abu Dhabi that “Poland is ready” to hand over “the remaining number of MiG-29s that we have serving in the Air Force” and was “sure that Ukraine will be ready to use immediately.
Duda also assured that Ukraine will receive US-made F-16 aircraft in the future, although he did not specify who would provide these devices or when that delivery would take place. Szrot added on Thursday that the delivery of the planes will take place “within the framework of a broader international coalition, so that it translates into significant support for Ukraine.”
Poland has staunchly supported Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion a year ago and the Warsaw government increased its own arms purchases, raising its military budget to more than 4 percent of GDP by 2023.