Boris Pistorius, Head of the Ministry of Defence of Germany, said that the German Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), the transfer of which Berlin announced in January, are already on their way to Ukraine.

Pistorius noted that the central topic during the discussion "again is and should be support for Ukraine". He emphasised that Germany is "the biggest supporter of Ukraine".

The Minister spoke about the progress of Ukrainian military training on air defence systems and tanks and noted that Marder IFVs are on their way to Ukraine.

"Currently, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers are undergoing training at air defence complexes, on Leopard, Marder. Marder is already on its way to Ukraine," he said before the meeting of the Council of the European Union on Monday, 20 March.

On 5 January, after a conversation between the leaders of the USA and Germany, Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz, it became known that the United States intends to provide Ukraine with Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and Germany plans to transfer Marder (Ukr) armoured vehicles. About 40 units of equipment should arrive in Ukraine by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

The first Ukrainian military personnel arrived in Germany for training on the Marder infantry fighting vehicle at the end of January.