Dutch to get Leopard 1 tanks from a Swiss Company for Ukraine

Netherlands is going to take permission from the Swiss government to purchase Leopard 1 battle tanks from a swiss company which will be delivered to Ukraine. This deal will be done to help Ukraine against Russia. At present, Swiss military has 134 Leopard 2 tanks in service and a further 96 in storage.

The Dutch government in February said it would deliver at least 100 Leopard One tanks to Ukraine in cooperation with Germany and Denmark.


The Defence ministry said the possible delivery was part of that original plan but did not immediately reply to a request for further details, as reported by ANP.

Netherland's Prime Minister Mark Rutte's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month the Swiss government already backed the decommissioning of 25 advanced Leopard 2 battle tanks with a view to selling them back to Germany.

Other than Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden are also sending Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine to fight against Russia amidst the Russia-Ukraine war.

But selling tanks is a sensitive issue in Switzerland due to the neutrality laws and a separate arms embargo which means the country is prohibited from sending weapons directly to Ukraine.