Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted cautiously on Tuesday to reports that German-made battle tanks had been promised. “A lot of effort, words, promises,” he said in a video address Tuesday night. It is more important to see the reality. “It’s not regarding five or ten or fifteen tanks. The need is greater.” Ukraine tries every day to compensate for the lack of heavy battle tanks.
“And I thank each and every one of you who support us in this.” The discussions regarding the delivery of tanks must now lead to decisions, Zelenskyj demanded. “Decisions that really strengthen our defense once morest the (Russian) terrorists.” Ukraine’s allies had the required number of tanks. “If we have the necessary weight in decisions, we will be happy to thank you for every single important decision,” emphasized Zelenskyy. “We’re still working on that.”
After much hesitation, Germany has decided to supply Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine and allows other countries to do the same. The dpa learned this on Tuesday in Berlin from coalition circles. “Spiegel” and ntv had previously reported regarding it. According to “Spiegel” information, it is planned to equip at least one company with the Leopard 2A6 version from Bundeswehr stocks. This would require 14 of the weapon systems. Poland had previously announced that it wanted to supply a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Finland and other countries are also prepared to do this.
According to reports from several US media, the USA now wants to deliver Abrams main battle tanks to Ukraine. This was reported by the “New York Times” on Tuesday evening (local time), citing insiders. According to the newspaper, there might be official confirmation as early as this Wednesday. It might be 30 to 50 tanks, the newspaper wrote.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that a US announcement regarding the commitment of “a larger number” of M1 Abrams might come later this week. According to this, US President Joe Biden is said to have promised Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a telephone call last week to have such a delivery checked. Neither the White House nor the Pentagon officially confirmed the reports on Tuesday.
