Slovakia’s Defense Ministry has expressed its readiness to send T72 model tanks to Ukraine provided that its Armed Forces receive a «suitable replacement» in return, thus asking for more modern Western battle tanks.
«We understand Ukraine’s need to acquire as many heavy ground vehicles as possible, and we are ready to talk about the immediate supply of Slovak T72 tanks, but only in case of a suitable replacement,» Defense spokeswoman Martina Koval-Kakascikova has said.
Earlier, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad himself had confirmed that the agreement with Berlin for Bratislava to receive Leopard tanks was still on track, oblivious to the latest developments on the supply of these battle tanks to Ukraine by Germany.
According to Nad, the tanks that Slovakia is offering to Ukraine are from the 1990s, so, although they are not the most modern models, «they are very easy to upgrade and can be modernized», reports the Teraz news portal.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)