On Tuesday evening there were first reports of Berlin’s commitment to deliver Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to make the announcement official in the Bundestag on Wednesday afternoon. Poland also applied for permission to supply Leopard tanks in Berlin on Tuesday. Norway is considering the same, Britain has already committed 14 of its Challenger tanks. Now the White House also wants to send US M1 Abrams main battle tanks, as reported by the media.
“All those leopards and Abrams are a pretty good birthday present for Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” wrote Politico magazine (online edition). The Ukrainian head of state turns 45 on Wednesday. “Needless to say, Team Ukraine is overjoyed.”
Selenskyj demands action
However, Zelenskyj does not want to rely on “efforts, words, promises”, as he said in his daily video address on Tuesday evening. It is more important to see the reality. “It’s not about five or ten or 15 tanks. The need is greater.” The discussions about the supply of tanks must now lead to decisions, Zelenskyj demanded, “decisions that really strengthen our defense against the (Russian, note) terrorists.” Ukraine’s allies had the necessary number of tanks.
Dozens of tanks in conversation
According to “Spiegel” information, Germany plans to equip at least one company with the Leopard 2A6 version from Bundeswehr stocks. This would require 14 tanks. In the case of Norway, it is about four or eight main battle tanks, reported the newspaper “Dagens Naeringsliv”. A decision on delivery has not yet been made.
The planned US delivery is said to be 30 Abrams tanks. Here, too, the delivery has not yet been officially confirmed, but according to the New York Times, the announcement should also be made soon in Washington. Named after US General Creighton Abrams, the tank was developed in the 1970s and entered service in 1980.
Like the Leopard 2, it goes back to a failed German-American project to develop a joint main battle tank in the 1960s. The latest version of the Abrams, produced by the armaments company General Dynamics, is considered to be one of the most modern tanks in the world.
Germany supplies tanks
After much hesitation, Germany delivers Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. Other countries are also allowed to hand over such tanks to Kyiv. The dpa learned this on Tuesday in Berlin from coalition circles. “Spiegel” and ntv had previously reported about it. Earlier reports came from the United States that US President Joe Biden is now considering the delivery of Abrams tanks.
The worries of the US authorities seem to have vanished. So far it has always been emphasized that the provision of the Abrams tank does not make sense for practical reasons. According to the Pentagon, the US tanks would have to be transported across the Atlantic, maintenance would be more complex and they would consume too much fuel. The tanks also require different fuel than the Leopard and many vehicles used in the Ukraine.
Could take months or years
However, according to the Washington Post, it will likely be months, if not years, before the Abrams tanks see action in the war. It is unlikely that the vehicles will arrive in Ukraine in the spring, when Russia’s offensive or a counter-offensive by Ukraine to recapture Russian-occupied areas is expected, the newspaper said.
Ukraine has been asking for Western-style main battle tanks to fight the Russian attackers for months. The first official request came just a week after the start of the war at the beginning of March last year. The front in eastern Ukraine has hardly moved for weeks. With the main battle tanks, Ukraine hopes to be able to go on the offensive again and recapture more territory.
Pressure on or through Scholz
But the intention of the USA to send tanks as well is likely to be partly due to the German chancellor. Scholz had always emphasized that he only wanted to act in concert with the United States and only deliver tanks if Washington sent some. Scholz was already heavily criticized and was scolded for his hesitancy. Apparently he either used the time to seal the alliance with the USA – or he allowed himself to be persuaded by the increasing pressure.
The Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister and former Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, spoke of a “double tank boom”. Even if the German decision was delayed, it was “without a doubt a real breakthrough and a game changer for Ukraine on the battlefield,” he told dpa. “This will go down in history.”
Russia angry
Moscow was angry about the upcoming tank deliveries. US tanks in Ukraine are “another blatant provocation,” Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told Telegram. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, then you definitely cannot justify such a step with the argument of ‘defense weapons’.” It is obvious that the government in Washington is working towards a strategic defeat of Russia.
