International Desk: After months of reluctance, America and Germany have decided to send tanks to Ukraine. They hope that if these tanks fall into the hands of Ukraine, the turn of the war can be turned. US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce plans to send at least 30 M1 Abrams tanks. Besides, German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz has decided to send at least 14 Leopard two tanks.
Russia’s ambassador to the US described the news as a ‘direct provocation’. And Ukrainian officials say these tanks will help regain territory lost to Russia on the battlefield.
America and Germany have long ignored internal and external pressure to send tanks to Ukraine. Washington says operating the state-of-the-art Abrams tank requires extensive training and maintenance. Berlin, on the other hand, fears that by supplying tanks, NATO is engaging in direct war against Russia.
According to the US media, America was informally informed by Germany that if America sends M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Germany will also send Leopard 2 tanks.
Citing an unnamed source, US media reported that 30 tanks could be sent.
Chris Coons, a Democratic senator and Biden ally, told Politico that if the Germans say, ‘If the Americans send Abrams, they will send Leopards, then we need to send Abrams.’
Britain has already said that it will send Challenger Two tanks to Ukraine. Moreover, Poland also said this week that it wants to send two Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Since these tanks are made in Germany, Berlin has to approve their export.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, at least 16 European and NATO countries have Leopard 2 tanks. Not all of them will send tanks to Ukraine. But Schulze’s apparent decision means they can send whatever they want.
The BBC’s defense correspondent, Jonathan Beale, said Ukraine thinks it can win the war if it gets 300 modern tanks. But they are unlikely to get the tanks they need, Biel said. But if half a dozen Western countries each provided 14 tanks, that would bring the number of tanks closer to a hundred, which could make a difference in the war.
Beale said Western tanks, including the UK’s Challenger Two, Germany’s Leopard Two and the US-made Abrams, are superior to similar Soviet-era tanks such as the T-70 Two. These tanks will provide Ukrainian forces with greater protection, speed and accuracy.
But Western modern main battle tanks themselves are not amazing weapons or game changers. Rather, what other types of weapons are being supplied with them is also important, the BBC’s defense correspondent thinks.
Recently there has been a change in the heavy weaponry supplied by the West. Hundreds more armored vehicles, artillery systems and ammunition are being delivered. Such weapons are needed in combination to repel the Russians and retake the occupied territories.
If Ukrainian troops can be trained and armed in time, they will be critical to the offensive against the adversary this coming spring. One thing is still missing for offensive operations. And that is military power in the air.
Since the start of the war, Ukraine has been demanding the supply of modern fighter jets to the West. Nothing has been provided yet. No official statement has yet been issued by the German government. The chancellor is scheduled to address the German parliament on Wednesday morning.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Simmermann of the liberal FDP party, who chairs the German parliament’s defense committee, welcomed such reports. He said the decision was difficult to make. It took a long time to make, but in the end it was inevitable. It will bring relief to the ‘suffering and brave Ukrainian people’.
The Allies were frustrated by Germany’s reluctance to send armored vehicles in recent days. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier that Berlin had given the green signal to other countries to train Ukrainians to use Leopard 2 tanks, but had not committed to sending tanks of their own.
Tanks are one of Ukraine’s tools to return to its 1991 borders, he wrote in a telegram after reports that Germany had agreed to send tanks.
Source: BBC
