By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles announced on Wednesday that the country will send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Speaking in parliament, Robles said that Madrid is willing to send more advanced battle tanks “if necessary and if our allies ask for it.”
She explained that the Leopard 2 A4 tanks are being repaired in Madrid before being sent to the Ukrainian armed forces.
Spain has one of Europe’s largest fleets of Leopard tanks – a total of 347. Most of them are the model Leopard 2E, made in Spain, but it also has more than 100 Leopard 2 A4 that were purchased from Germany in 1995.
Last summer, Spain had agreed to send tanks to Ukraine but canceled the plan shortly after announcing it.
At the time, the defense minister said the change of plans was because the armored vehicles were in “an absolutely lamentable state” due to a flood at a military base.
However, Spain may also have been waiting for allies like Germany to approve the shipment, which its leadership only did in January.
Robles said on Wednesday that Spain has already sent 54 shipments of military material to Ukraine, which have included HAWK, Mistral and Aspide air defense systems, 20 M113 armored personnel carriers, five naval systems, a cyber defense center as well as other weapons, defensive materials, vehicles and ammunition.