Poland has delivered tanks to Ukraine, government announces on war’s first anniversary

WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland has delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine already and is prepared to deliver more quickly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Friday, as Western nations increase their support to Kyiv a year after Russia invaded the country.

“Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia,” Morawiecki said during a visit to Kyiv, standing next to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Warsaw’s commitment to its neighbour has been instrumental in persuading European allies to donate heavy weapons to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several governments, including Berlin, until recently.

Poland said last month it aimed to get training time for Ukrainian soldiers on Leopard 2 tanks down to five weeks.

Morawiecki also called for a stronger new package of European Union sanctions against Russia. The bloc is currently discussing a 10th round of sanctions.

“As for the 10th sanction package, we are not happy because it is too soft, too weak … I am in contact with our team and we are pushing our allies to make this package as extensive as possible,” he said.

(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki, Anna Koper, Pawel FlorkiewiczEditing by Alex Richardson, Tomasz Janowski and Frances Kerry)