OREANDA-NEWS  The Swiss Ministry of Economics has authorized the sale of a new batch of 71 Leopard 1 A5 tanks to Germany, subject to a prohibition on re-exporting them to Ukraine, according to TASS, citing a statement from the confederation's authorities.

It should be noted that these tanks are based in Italy and the buyer has guaranteed that neither the tanks nor any of their components will be transferred to Kiev. The Swiss government also recalled that they had rejected a request in 2023 to sell main battle tanks to Germany with the intention of shipping them to Ukraine.

Switzerland maintains its neutral stance on the Ukrainian conflict and, despite agreeing to a deal in 2023 with Germany on the shipment of 25 tanks, the country emphasized that Berlin had provided written assurances that they would not be sent to Ukraine.

Switzerland's current laws prohibit the re-export of weapons to conflict zones by acquisition countries due to the country's neutral status. The confederation also rejects requests from European capitals to provide ammunition for the war zone. Despite this, Germany regularly transfers Leopard tanks and spare parts to the Ukrainian armed forces, but this does not imply that these vehicles were purchased from Switzerland.