After weeks of pressure from Poland and other NATO members on Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the US and some European allies appear to be sending tanks into the war zone.

This is a move that would have seemed unlikely a few months earlier, and is considered a key decision, partly because tanks serve not only for defense, but also for offense – unlike anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems, which only act as defensive “shields”.

Which countries will send tanks

So far, as many as seven states are ready to strengthen the Ukrainian army with tanks.

United States of America Dozens of M1 Abrams tanks are expected to be sent to Ukraine (possibly 30, according to US officials cited by the Washington Post). Germany agreed to supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks.

OUR Britannia announced on 14 January that it would send 14 Challenger 2 main battle tanks and Poland he also stated that he was ready to send up to 14 Leopard 2 tanks.

Her government Norway it is also considering sending some of its Leopard tanks, according to newspapers, while Finland announced that it could donate a small number of tanks of the same type to Ukraine “if the wider group of European states also decide to do so.”

OUR Spainthrough Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, also declares that she is ready to cooperate with allies in the Leopard 2 mission in the Ukrainian war zone.

What does the change in the position of the Western allies testify to?

The impending strategic turn by the West regarding the equipment it is sending to Ukraine is interpreted by many as a clear sign that these states are no longer afraid to step on Russia’s “red lines”. “The ingrained notion that some form of NATO assistance to Ukraine will come with the risk of ‘over-provocation’ from a nuclear power” such as Russia is crumbling, CNN comments.

In addition, these NATO members are probably less concerned about the possibility of an attack from Russia itself in the near future: “they are supplying weapons that will be badly needed in the event of such a conflict. The decision of the Netherlands to send all the artillery units of the Cesar, the decision of Norway to send most of the Leopards (…) – these NATO people believe that the decisive conflict with Russia will take place in Ukraine, with Ukraine. And this may indicate that they believe that Moscow will not win, ”concludes the American media.

Russia reacts

The Kremlin has attempted to downplay the potential impact of Western tanks, noting that the tanks the West sends to Ukraine will “burn like everyone else.”

Speaking to reporters today, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the expected reinforcement of the Ukrainian army with Western Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks “an unsuccessful plan.”

He talked about “re-evaluating” the dynamics they would give to the Ukrainian army. “These tanks will burn like all the others,” he added. “They’re just too expensive.”

The Russian Embassy in Germany accused Berlin of refusing “historical responsibility” to Moscow, which brings the conflict in Ukraine “to a new conflict level.”

Sources: CNN, Reuters, Guardian.