Poland buys used US tanks after Germany row
Poland will purchase 116 used M1 Abrams main battle tanks from the US in order to backfill the armored vehicles it had delivered to Ukraine.
Warsaw has reached an agreement on the matter with the White House, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told news agency IAR on Friday.
The agency reported that the first US-made tanks would be delivered early next year and replace more than 240 Soviet-era T-72 tanks, which Poland transferred to Ukraine in April.
Poland initially hoped to replenish its stocks with German Leopard 2 tanks. But the planned deal failed to materialize, after which Polish President Andrzej Duda in May accused Berlin of breaking its word.
Steffen Hebestreit, the German government’s spokesman, said at the time that Berlin was “perplexed” by the allegations. He told reporters that Poland requested the newest Leopard 2A7 tanks, but the German army itself had a relatively small number of such vehicles.
In April, Poland and the US signed a separate deal for Warsaw to purchase 250 new Abrams tanks.
Many Western countries, including EU nations, have been supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons after Russia launched a military operation against the neighboring state in late February.
