The Merkava battle tanks that Israel wants to export to a European country could be deployed to the Ukrainian army, the German magazine Stern reported this weekend.

Israel's Defense Ministry said Thursday that there were "advanced negotiations" over the sale of Merkava MK 2 and MK 3 with two unnamed countries, one of which is in Europe. 

"If the agreement is reached, the tanks will be transferred quickly. In Israel there are more than 1000 such models, and there are many indications that the report said.

The Israeli Defense Ministry has not yet signed the export agreement. However, it could allegedly include a clause prohibiting the transfer or sale of the tanks to a third party.

According to several reports, Germany is the European country interested in acquiring Israeli tanks. The models offered for sale would be the Merkava Mk 2 and Mk 3, while the Israel Defense Forces currently use the newer and advanced model, the Merkava Mk 4.

The magazine also highlighted Ukraine's urgent need for tanks, particularly because the German Leopard 1 type tanks it has are considered obsolete. The significant losses in armored vehicles suffered by the Ukrainian armed forces during ground operations challenged the idea that Western tanks were invincible.

Ukraine plans to renew its military equipment by the fall. Israeli reserve stocks of more than 1,000 battle tanks are therefore very attractive to meet this need.