Germany has approved the export of Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine from industrial warehouses, a government representative said at a press conference in Berlin on February 3.

The spokesman, quoted by Reuters, refused to comment on the number of tanks that will be transferred to Kiev.

The Leopard 1s are not as advanced as the Leopard 2s that Germany and other countries promised last week, but they could be delivered sooner.

Last week, Germany, which has long resisted calls from a number of countries to transfer tanks to Ukraine, agreed to provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks for two battalions.

As a first step, Berlin will hand over 14 tanks from its warehouses to the Bundeswehr.

In addition, Germany will give appropriate permits to partners who want to transfer tanks of this model from their warehouses to Ukraine.

On January 25, President Joe Biden announced that the United States would transfer 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

The White House says that the transfer of Abrams tanks to Ukraine "will take many months."

According to the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, there are already 12 countries in the "tank coalition".