It “simply doesn’t make sense” for the U.S. to supply M1 Abrams tanks “at this point,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday, after German officials said they would not supply tanks to Ukraine until the U.S. decided to do so. the same, according to CNN.
“As you know, we provided the Abrams, we see other countries stepping up and continuing to provide Ukraine with equipment and materials that they can provide,” Singh said.
“Ultimately, this is Germany’s decision. It is their sovereign decision as to what security assistance they will provide. Therefore, we will not be able to settle with them, but I think that we are certainly doing everything possible to support Ukraine in what it needs,” she added.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with other allies in Germany on Friday for the eighth meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine, where they will discuss the types of equipment and weapons systems Ukraine may need to fight Russia.
The M1 Abrams is difficult to maintain
And while the issue of tanks will certainly be resolved, US officials have repeatedly said that Germany can make its own decisions, and that the maintenance and support requirements of the M1 Abrams make it difficult to provide this equipment to the Ukrainians.
“We continue to work with other partners and allies around the world to see what else we can provide to Ukraine, and that’s the goal of tomorrow’s meeting,” Singh said Thursday.
Western allies are under increasing pressure to supply Ukraine with heavy battle tanks
France, Poland and Great Britain have promised to soon send tanks to the Ukrainian military to defend against Russia. Finland is considering the same example.
Germany has announced that it will hand over infantry fighting vehicles to Kyiv, but has not yet committed to sending tanks. Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted that any such plan must be fully agreed with the entire Western alliance, including the United States.
Western allies are due to meet tomorrow at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss new military aid to Kyiv.
“The Germans here defend themselves like the devil from holy water”
The Polish Prime Minister looks pessimistically at the fact that Germany will give permission to other countries to re-export Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
“I am a pessimist because the Germans protect themselves from this like the devil protects himself from holy water,” Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters, according to Al Jazeera.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Thursday that the supply of Western-made tanks to Ukraine continues to be “urgent and very sensitive” in his country’s war against Russia, CNN reports.
Zelenskyy told reporters that the impasse with the tanks “depends on many reasons and, unfortunately, does not depend on the will of Ukraine.” “We are all waiting for the approval of the country that owns the rights to this license,” Zelensky explained.
One of the target countries is Germany, which produces the Leopard tank.
Poland, Denmark and others have said they want to send some of their Leopards to Ukraine, but Berlin has been reluctant to approve the supply of German-made tanks to avoid an escalation with Moscow.
“We exert as much political pressure as we can, but the most important thing is that our pressure is based on strong arguments,” Zelenskyy said. “The courage of our soldiers and the motivation of the Ukrainian people are not enough against thousands of tanks of the Russian Federation,” he added.
Zelenskyi also said that Ukraine is looking for other ways, namely its own production, but added that it does not want to give too much to Russia.
“Time and speed are important. Every minute means a human life. The sooner we manage to liberate our territory, the sooner we become stronger, the more lives of our citizens will be saved,” he added, noting that current supplies are not being delivered quickly enough.
A group of 11 NATO member states that took part in a meeting in Estonia on Thursday aimed at increasing military aid to Ukraine agreed to provide it with new weapons and signed a joint statement asking other countries to increase aid to the Ukrainian army. with tanks and other heavy weapons, Reuters reports.
After Britain on Monday confirmed a new package of military aid to Ukraine, including 14 Challenger 2 tanks, howitzers, ammunition, armour, drones, guided and anti-aircraft missiles, Minister Wallace said in Estonia on Thursday that the aid would be supplemented by 600 more Brimstone missiles .
“I can say that we will send another 600 Brimstone missiles to the theater of operations, which will be incredibly important to help Ukraine dominate the battlefield,” said the British defense minister.
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Source: Hot News
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