US lawmakers are calling on the US government to send M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine on Sunday, saying even a token shipment of such tanks would be enough to convince European allies to do the same, Reuters and ABC News reported.

US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said on Sunday that the US should send at least one Abrams tank to Ukraine to give Germany the impetus to send its own Leopard tanks to help Kiev fight Moscow.

“If we announced that we were going to give Abrams tanks, just one … I heard that Germany is waiting for us to make a decision. Then they will also give Leopard tanks. And remember, there are about 10 countries that have Leopard tanks, but they need German approval,” McCaul said in an interview with ABC News.

“To say that we are going to make the Abrams tanks available, I think that would be enough for Germany to produce their own Leopard tanks,” he added.

German Leopard tanks are used in several European countries, but for re-export to Ukraine they need permission from Berlin. The US has said its Abrams tanks are unfit for combat in Ukraine, given the intensive maintenance and fuel they require to operate.

The media reported that Germany would allow Ukraine to supply Leopard tanks if the United States handed over Abrams tanks to Kyiv. However, the German government denied such a request.

• The condition of Germany allowed to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine

The USA has so far refused to supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks, and Germany has not made a decision to supply Leopard tanks.

The American official noted that due to the fact that “there will be a winter offensive of Russia,” Ukraine needs “these tanks on the eastern flank of Donbas.”

McCaul said Ukraine also needs ATACMS, long-range surface-to-surface missiles, to be able to “hit Crimea, where the Iranian drones are.”

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons reportedly spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the tank supply during last week’s World Economic Forum.

Koons is reported to have said that, in his opinion, “it is urgently necessary to provide Ukraine with advanced main battle tanks.”

Britain recently announced that it would supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks, but the real target is German Leopard 2 heavy tanks, which Ukraine’s allies may supply.

Pressure on Berlin has increased in recent weeks, firstly to send its fleet, but secondly to at least approve their transfer from third countries.

Experts estimate that around 2,000 Leopard tanks are in use in 13 European countries, and they are increasingly seen as essential to Ukraine’s war effort as the conflict approaches its second year.

The Polish government suggested that Poland could go ahead regardless of whether Germany gave the green light.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he had ordered an inventory of Leopard 2 tanks amid growing criticism that he had not made a decision to send the combat vehicles to Ukraine.

The United States will hand over 50 Bradley military vehicles, as well as 90 Stryker armored vehicles and Patriot air defense systems to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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