The United States and Germany have announced plans to send dozens of advanced main battle tanks to Ukraine after intense debate and pressure from NATO allies to respond positively to Kiev’s demands for up to 300 tanks to help meet Russia’s 11 months ancient large tanks to repel invasion.
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Their decisions follow a British decision earlier this month to send 14 of its own Challenger 2 tanks, which could take months of training and other preparations to realize.
Kyiv was quick to hail German and American tank pledges as crucial to its hopes of victory, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quick to stress that “speed and volume are now crucial.”
In his nightly speech, Zelenskyy said he had also spoken to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltengerg and urged deliveries of long-range missiles and aircraft.
President Joe Biden said the United States would send 31 of its state-of-the-art Abrams tanks, which he said would not pose an offensive threat to Russia.
Moscow has warned that it views the Western supply of such tanks to its much smaller post-Soviet enemy as a dangerous provocation.
At the White House, Biden said the NATO tanks for Ukraine would help “improve her maneuverability in open terrain.”
He praised Berlin’s announcement hours earlier as proof that “Germany has really gained momentum”.
Biden added, “The expectation on the part of Russia is that we will disintegrate, but we are fully, completely and thoroughly united.”
In addition to tanks, Washington support will also reportedly include eight tracked recovery and towing vehicles known as M88s.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby later said it would be “many months” before US tanks arrived, but that Ukraine had to be prepared for better weather and increased Russian attacks.
He added that there was no indication that Russian President Vladimir Putin had any plans to attack NATO territory.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the delivery of 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, opening the way for third countries to re-export their own German-made Leopards amid fears of a spring offensive by Russia and a reminder of the intense attack on Ukraine after the Troops were forced to withdraw from the city of Soledar.
Scholz said the decision, approved on Jan. 25, was “the right principle” given Russia’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius added that the first Leopard tanks could be in Ukraine within three months.
Biden and Scholz later held a joint phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, during which they reportedly agreed on the need for continued military support to Ukraine and close transatlantic coordination.
Zelenskyy welcome soon The move of the White House is a “powerful decision” and “an important step on the way to victory”.
“Today, the free world is united as never before for a common purpose – the liberation of [Ukraine]. We’re moving forward,” he added.
The German government’s goal is to quickly set up two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine and to provide 14 tanks from its own military stocks in the first stage.
Scholz said Western allies would continue to support Ukraine, but warned that decisions must be made on whether to further fuel the conflict, which is now in its 12th month.
“In everything we do, we must always make it clear that we are doing what is necessary and possible to support Ukraine, but at the same time prevent the war from escalating into a war between Russia and NATO,” said Scholz in the Bundestag , Germany’s lower house of parliament.
Zelenskyy too thanked Scholz for Germany’s “important and timely decisions” and said they were “the green light for partners to deliver similar weapons.”
Kyiv hopes the move will change the balance on the battlefield as Russia continues to exert massive pressure on Ukrainian defenders in the eastern part of the country, where Ukraine hit on January 25 Confirmed that it had completely withdrawn from the strategic city of Soledar.
“The first tank step is done” said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, added that he hopes this will be the start of a “tank coalition” to meet Kiev’s needs.
Norwegian Defense Minister Björn Arild Gram said after the German announcement that Norway would also send tanks to Ukraine, but did not specify how many.
Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway are some of the other European countries expected to follow suit and supply some of their Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
“Spain stands ready … to deal with our allies in any way necessary, whether that be by sending Leopards, training in the use of Leopards, or helping with their maintenance and upkeep,” Defense Secretary Margarita Robles said, without giving further details.
Pal Jonson, the Swedish defense minister whose NATO membership is being held up by Turkey, told AFP news agency that his country does not rule out sending Leopard 2 to Ukraine.
Germany’s announcement was quickly met with support from the West and ridicule from Moscow.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has already announced plans to send 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, welcomed Germany’s decision to “further strengthen Ukraine’s defensive firepower”.
“Together we are accelerating our efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace,” Sunak said Twitter.
He later added that the West needed to “intensify” its support for Ukraine.
NATO’s Stoltenberg “strongly” welcomed Germany’s decision, saying it could help Kyiv defeat invading Russian forces.
“At a critical moment in Russia’s war, these can help Ukraine defend, win, and assert itself as an independent nation,” Stoltenberg wrote Twitter.
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However, Russia was angered by the decision of its ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev, calling it “extremely dangerous”. He accused Berlin of “inclining to a permanent escalation” of the conflict.
“This extremely dangerous decision moves the conflict to a new level of confrontation and goes against what German politicians have said about Germany’s unwillingness to engage,” he said, adding that “like its close allies, Germany has no interest in a diplomat.” resolution of the Ukraine crisis and tends to its permanent escalation and limitless pumping of the Kiev regime with more deadly weapons.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that Western policy decisions, including the deployment of the tanks, would create a “very, very tense” security situation in Europe and the world at large.
Photo gallery:
The history of the Abrams tank
The Biden government has announced that it will send 31 M1 Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine, in what Kiev authorities are hailing as a possible turning point in a war that is now 11 months old. RFE/RL takes a brief look at the history of the Abrams and its specifications.
The BBC quoted the Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, as describing the delivery of M1 Abram tanks to Ukraine as a “blatant provocation against the Russian Federation”.
He accused the United States of wanting “to inflict a strategic defeat on us.”
In an apparent battlefield setback, Ukrainian forces admitted on January 25 that they had completed the withdrawal from the strategic Donetsk city of Soledar after weeks of intense fighting with Russian forces.
The news agencies Portal and AFP quoted a Ukrainian military spokesman as saying that the soldiers had returned to predetermined positions during the move.
“After months of heavy fighting, including in recent weeks, the armed forces left Ukraine (Soledar) and retreated to prepared positions along the outskirts,” AFP quoted Ukraine’s military spokesman Serhiy Cherevatiy as saying.
Russia earlier this month claimed control of the salt mining town, which had a pre-war population of around 10,000. Soledar is about 20 kilometers from the strategic city of Bakhmut, where fierce battles have been going on for months without either side winning out.
Earlier on January 25, Ukraine’s military said that despite “numerous casualties,” Russian forces continued their offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with attacks mainly aimed at Bakhmut and Avdiyivka in Donetsk, where heavy fighting has been ongoing for months.
With reports from the Ukrainian service of RFE/RL, Portal, AFP, Politico, CNN and the BBC