After several weeks of reluctance, Germany has decided to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which Kyiv hopes will be a military game-changer.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the decision to send 14 tanks. And allow other countries to do so as well.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is also likely to announce preparations to deliver at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks.
Earlier, a Kremlin spokeswoman stated that the tanks will “burn like the rest.”
Dmitry Peskov stated that there was an overestimation of the tanks’ value to the Ukrainian military and termed the maneuver a “failed scheme.”
However, Ukrainian officials contend they are in dire need of heavier weapons, claiming that sufficient battle tanks would assist Kyiv’s soldiers to retake Russian territory.
A representative for the German government stated that the decision to provide tanks “follows our well-established policy of aiding Ukraine to the best of our ability.”
Germany will give Ukraine Leopard 2 tanks.
Germany also allowed other nations to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, which was previously prohibited by export restrictions.
The United States and Germany had for some time resisted internal and external pressure to send tanks to Ukraine.
Washington emphasized the expensive training and maintenance requirements of the technologically advanced Abrams.
Germans worried for months that sending tanks would escalate the battle and draw NATO into the war with Russia.
According to US media, an announcement regarding Abrams deployments to Ukraine might be made as early as Wednesday. With unnamed officials indicating that at least 30 could be supplied.
However, the timeframe is uncertain, and it may take many months for US combat vehicles to reach the front lines.
German officials reportedly demanded M1 Abrams before supplying Leopard 2s to Ukraine.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons, a Biden friend, told Politico on Tuesday that the U.S. should send Abrams if the Germans continue to insist that they will only send or release Leopards if the U.S. sends Abrams.
Britain has previously stated that Challenger Two tanks will be sent to Ukraine.
It seems improbable that Ukraine would receive the 300 new main battle tanks it claims it needs to win the conflict.
However, if six Western nations each contributed 14 tanks, the total would approach 100, which may make a difference.
Western tanks, like the United Kingdom’s Challenger 2, Germany’s Leopard 2, and the United States Abrams, are regarded as superior to Soviet-era tanks such as the ubiquitous T-72.
They will offer Ukrainian personnel more protection, speed, and precision.
But modern Western main battle tanks are neither a miracle weapon nor a game-changer by themselves. It is also what is provided along with them.
In recent weeks, the West has significantly increased its supply of heavy weapons. Including hundreds more armored vehicles, artillery systems, and ammunition.
They are the type of military equipment required to break through Russian lines and recapture territory.
If Ukrainian troops can be properly trained and supplied in time. They might play a crucial role in any spring onslaught. Still lacking from offensive operations is air power.
Since the start of the conflict, Ukraine has requested that the West supply it with modern fighter jets. So far, none has been provided.
The chair of the German parliament’s defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the liberal FDP party. Previously praised the tanks as a comfort for “the wounded and courageous Ukrainian people”
She stated, “The decision was difficult, it took far too long, but in the end it was unavoidable.”
In recent days, Allied nations had grown dissatisfied with what they saw to be German hesitation to dispatch the armored vehicles.
Tuesday, the chief of staff to the Ukrainian president, Andriy Yermak, urged Western nations to provide Ukraine with hundreds of tanks to form a “crushing fist” against Russia.
“Tanks are necessary for Ukraine to return to its boundaries in 1991,” he remarked on Telegram.
The Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, remarked in a Telegram message. “If the United States decides to send tanks, then ‘defensive weaponry’ arguments will not work.
This would be yet another egregious provocation towards the Russian Federation.
