MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th February, 2023) Portugal will send three Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in March, Prime Minister António Costa said.
In late January, Portuguese Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho said Leopard tanks could be supplied to Ukraine in two to three months.
"Currently, we are implementing a plan for the restoration and maintenance of Leopard 2 tanks. In accordance with the implementation of this plan, we will be able to ship three of them in the coming March," Correio da Manha newspaper quoted the prime minister as saying at a parliamentary hearing.
Admiral António da Silva Ribeiro, Chief of the General Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces, said last month his country has 37 Leopard 2 tanks. According to local media, more than half of them are out of order.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 in response to calls by the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection from Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, and to completely liberate Donbas.
Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said any cargo that contains weaponry for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia.
