MOSCOW, January 26 – RIA Novosti. Canada may supply Ukraine with up to five Leopard 2 tanks. informs The Globe and Mail newspaper quotes an official.

According to the CBC television channel, based on top sources, Canada is considering the delivery of four tanks and may announce the supply of vehicles on Thursday. A source told the channel that Canada will likely ship the oldest A4 version of the tanks in service with the country.

“According to a senior government official, Canada is considering providing four or five Leopard 2 tanks, but has yet to make a decision,” the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, the Canadian Army has 112 Leopard tanks, of which 82 are combat vehicles, and the other 30 are designed to erect or destroy obstacles and perform other tasks. The newspaper also adds that retired General Andrew Leslie, a former commander of the Canadian army, said that according to some reports, about 20 of the Canadian tanks are operational and the rest are in storage or awaiting repair. number of spare parts.

On Wednesday, the German government announced that it has decided to hand over the German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Prior to this came greatly increased pressure by representatives of the government parties to give Olaf Scholz’s cabinet a positive decision on this matter as soon as possible.

Germany plans to establish two tank battalions. In the first phase, they plan to supply a company of 14 Leopard 2 type A6s from the Bundeswehr’s stocks. Berlin also plans to organize training in Germany for the Ukrainian army soon. In addition to 14 tanks and training, the new German aid package for Ukraine is said to include logistics, ammunition and maintenance.

Also Wednesday, the White House confirmed its intention to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. It will take several months for the cars to be delivered, according to US authorities. In addition, Washington plans to send eight M88 armored recovery vehicles to Kiev to service the tanks.

Russia had previously sent a note to NATO countries for arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation stated that NATO countries are “playing with fire” by supplying weapons to Ukraine. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that pumping weapons into Ukraine from the West does not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative effect.