Portugal has 37 Leopard tanks but military leadership does not say how many can be sent
The head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA), Admiral Silva Ribeiro, indicated this Friday that Portugal has 37 Leopard tanks, but left comment on how many could be sent to Ukraine.
“On the Leopard, we have 37”, said Silva Ribeiro at a joint press conference as part of the visit to Portugal of the president of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer.
The CEMGFA was also asked about how many of these vehicles could eventually be included in the aid package for Ukraine, but indicated that it could not comment on “this issue” and referred it to the communiqué released this afternoon by the Ministry of National Defence.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that several European countries, including Portugal, are available to supply international war tanks, such as the ‘Leopard 2’, which requires authorization from Germany.
This afternoon, after a meeting of the Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine, which took place in Ramstein, Germany, the Ministry of National Defense indicated in a statement that Portugal will send another 14 M113 armored vehicles and eight large-capacity electrical generators to the Ukraine, bringing “to 532 tonnes the total amount of military equipment, lethal and non-lethal” supplied to the country.
With regard to the shipment of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the ministry indicates that, during the meeting in Ramstein, “Portugal participated in a meeting convened by Ukraine and Poland, where the countries that possess these means were present”.
“At that meeting, the Minister of National Defense reiterated the offer of training in this type of combat vehicles and expressed the availability of the Portuguese Government to identify, in a coordinated manner with its partners, ways to support Ukraine with this capability”, says the ministry.
Also questioned about the advanced news in the Público newspaper that the six Kamov helicopters offered by Portugal to Ukraine in October have not yet been demanded by that country, Admiral Silva Ribeiro indicated that these “conversations are taking place at a political level”, refusing to do more comments.
Always speaking in English, the CEMGFA defended that “Portugal is doing its job, it is making a significant contribution” to “increase the Ukrainian military capacity to face the illegal invasion of Russia”.
“We are giving equipment and ammunition, weapons that belong to the Portuguese Armed Forces, but we are doing this in a balanced way between the capacity we have, the risks we are facing and our willingness to buy equipment to replace the equipment we gave to Ukraine,” he said.
Silva Ribeiro also highlighted that this is an “effort to maintain peace and security”.