MADRID, Feb 14 Spain has no fighter jets to deliver to Kiev , but there are 2-4 Leopard tanks, Kingdom Defense Minister Margaret Robles said on Tuesday after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at headquarters in Brussels.
«Ukraine has requested fighter jets that Spain does not have, and therefore we cannot help in this area,» she said. Her speech was broadcast by the EFE news agency.
Robles confirmed that Spain could supposedly send 2-4 Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine. However, she clarified that the total number of tanks sent by all EU member states still needs to be clarified.
In this context, the Minister of Defense of Spain drew attention to the particular importance of training soldiers. So, according to her, Ukrainian soldiers will arrive in the kingdom this week or early next week to receive training in the use and maintenance of Leopard tanks. On February 15, 200 Ukrainian soldiers will finish their training in Toledo, and on February 16, other soldiers will arrive in their place. In January, the Spanish Ministry of Defense announced that it had begun training 225 Ukrainian soldiers, including 198 mobilized without military training.
In June, the Spanish press reported that authorities in Madrid were planning to transfer 40 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. In order to supply Ukraine with German-made tanks, countries need to obtain German permission to lift export restrictions. Later, Business Insider reported that the German authorities blocked Spain's plans. As a result, the number of tanks was reduced to ten. In early August, Robles announced that the country's government had abandoned plans to transfer a batch of tanks to Ukraine, which, as it turned out, were in a «deplorable state.»
Russia sent a note to NATO countries over arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo that contains weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russia. He warned that as the West pumped more and more long-range weapons into Ukraine, the geographic objectives of the special operation were moving further and further from the current line.
The Kremlin has previously stated that the consideration of the issue of deliveries of fighter jets to Kiev by London is perceived as the growing involvement of Europe in the conflict with Russia, in Europe the line between indirect and direct involvement in the conflict with the Russian Federation is disappearing.
The West must understand that the supply of weapons to Ukraine will not strengthen its security, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.