LIVE UPDATES: Pentagon Confirms New Ukraine Aid Package With 31 Abrams Tanks Worth $400Mln

Canada may send up to five Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine but has yet to make a decision, The Globe and Mail Newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official.

The CBC broadcaster reported, citing senior government officials, that Ottawa is considering the supply of 4-5 Leopard tanks to Kiev and may announce the delivery as early as Thursday. One of the sources told the broadcaster that Canada is likely to send Leopard 2A4 tanks — the oldest series in Ottawa's inventory.

According to the broadcaster, the Canadian military has 112 Leopard tanks, 82 of which are battle tanks, and 30 are designed to erect or destroy obstacles and perform other tasks.

Earlier on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had no announcement to make regarding deliveries of Leopard tanks to Ukraine but was looking at what more Ottawa can do to help Kiev.

Switzerland's credibility as a neutral country could be lost in the case of re-export of the country's weapons to parties of military conflict, Swiss Federal Councillor Alain Berset said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Swiss parliament committee approved amendments allowing third countries to re-export Swiss-made arms to Ukraine. The parliament is yet to vote on the bill.

"Given the special role that Switzerland plays in the world, it is necessary to question the authority of Switzerland as a neutral country in case of re-export of Swiss weapons to the war zone," Berset said in an interview with the Swiss broadcaster RTS.

The Russian Embassy in Mexico has expressed its gratitude to Lopez Obrador for his "open and honest position" over the issue.

The minister did not specify the exact number and modification of tanks that the country is ready to supply, but added that Norway is ready to train Ukrainian servicemen in order to "support Ukraine as much as possible."

"This $400 million USAI [Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative] package represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional capabilities to Ukraine," the Defense Department said in a press release.

"We treat this with caution. The Russians said they plan to strike at logistics chains through which Western military aid can pass, so we are more cautious about the timing and quantity of deliveries," Lecornu said.

The United States is expected to announce later on Wednesday that it will provide Abrams M1 main battle tanks to Ukraine.

The prime minister added he hopes to have more information to share in the coming days.

Switzerland has been under pressure from Germany, Spain and Denmark to allow them to send Swiss-made weapons to Ukraine. Russia has criticized the West for funneling lethal weapons to its neighbor instead of enabling peace talks and warned that further efforts to arm Ukraine will only prolong the conflict.

"I can't say for sure, but we will bear the cost ourselves," Scholz said at a joint press conference with Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, answering the question of how much the delivery of German Leopard tanks to Kiev will cost in total.

Portugal now has 37 Leopard 2 tanks, with 12 of them in working condition, the news outlet added.

On Tuesday, media outlets reported that Washington could announce as early as this week the delivery of a "significant number" of the M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, possibly between 30 and 50. The announcement reportedly would be part of a broader deal with Germany, which is also expected to pledge the supply of a small number of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

"This [Germany's tank deliveries to Kiev] will happen no earlier than in three or four months," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday as aired by the Welt broadcaster.

"You have just thrown the foundations of the post-war period overboard. Germany's special responsibility for the victims of the Second World War was meaningful," Bystron said at a meeting with Scholz in the Bundestag.

"In no case will we send ground forces either. I have already said that there will be no direct participation of NATO soldiers in the war in Ukraine. This will happen neither now nor in the future. Everyone can rely on this," Scholz added.

This proves once again that Germany, as well as its closest allies, is not interested in a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, and is set up for its permanent escalation and unlimited pumping of Kiev with more and more deadly weapons, the statement read.

"The choice of Berlin means the final refusal of Germany to recognize the historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War," the embassy added.

In April 2022, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev after Russia started its military operation in Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has also warned that pumping Ukraine with weapons was not conducive to peace negotiations and would have a detrimental effect on the conflict.

Artemovsk is located in the Kiev-controlled part of the DPR, north of the large city of Gorlovka, and is an important transport hub for supplying Ukrainian troops in the Donbass.