Demands like these are not new: Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of the previous year, calls for fighter jets were made from the Ukrainian side. “The more support our heroes on the front lines get from the world, the faster Russian aggression will end,” Zelenskyy said in his video address.
According to the Ukrainian President, it is now important that the West also “start the delivery of long-range missiles”. Kyiv and its allies should also “expand our artillery cooperation” and allow “combat aircraft to be deployed.”
“Depends on speed and quantity”
After the official commitment to supply battle tanks, Zelensky expressly thanked German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden. “A fist of tanks” must now be formed, said Zelenskyy, “a fist of freedom that will not allow tyranny to rise again.” The key to this lies in the speed of training Ukrainian tank crews and the delivery of tanks to Ukraine . The quantity of tanks to be delivered is also decisive.
After much hesitation, Germany and the United States announced on Wednesday that they would be supplying battle tanks to Ukraine. This should enable Kyiv to launch a counter-offensive to liberate Russian-held Ukrainian territory.
Correspondents on the tank deliveries
The ORF correspondents Andreas Pfeifer from Berlin, Thomas Langpaul from Washington and Christian Wehrschütz from Kyiv comment on the tank deliveries to Ukraine.
Biden: “It will take some time”
Biden announced plans to deliver 31 M1 Abrams main battle tanks at a White House press conference on Wednesday evening. Just a few hours earlier, Germany had announced the delivery of 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks. In addition, Berlin gave the necessary approval for the delivery of Leopard tanks from the stocks of other NATO countries.
The delivery of the Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to Biden, “will take some time”. The time should be used to ensure that Ukrainians are fully prepared to “integrate the Abrams tanks into their defenses,” Biden said in Washington on Wednesday. The German tanks should also only be ready for action in the Ukraine in about three months. For this purpose, Ukrainian units must be trained beforehand.
Zelenskyj: “Important stage on the way to victory”
The Ukrainian leadership welcomed the announced delivery of western main battle tanks as a step towards a military victory against Russia. Zelenskyj wrote on Twitter about an “important stage on the way to victory”. The “free world” is “united like never before in a common goal: the liberation of Ukraine”.
Military Analyst on Tank Deliveries
Military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady from the Institute for International Strategic Studies (IISS) in London talks about the tank deliveries to Ukraine.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister and former Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, spoke of a “first step”. Ukraine now also needs a reinforcement of its air force, it needs modern fighter jets, such as Tornados, according to Melnyk, who also noted: “We need warships so that the coast can be protected. We also need submarines.” And all of this has to be done much faster and faster than before.
