On Wednesday, President Biden announced, during a press conference, that the United States would send M1A1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The decision came after heavy negotiations with Biden’s German counterpart and other European leaders. According to them, the only way to allow heavy European arms to be sent to Ukraine was for the US to send its own tanks.
Biden stated that the tanks will “enhance Ukraine’s capacity to defend its territory and achieve its strategic objectives.
Expensive Decision
The 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks have a heavy cost. The U.S. will spend more than $27 billion to send the machines to Ukraine, so that the country led by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would fight against Russia.
“Delivering these tanks to the field is going to take time. Time that we’ll see and we’ll use to make sure the Ukrainians are fully prepared,” he said during the press conference. Around three months will be necessary for the artillery to arrive in the Ukrainian territory.
Further, Biden added: “That’s what this is about: helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land. It is not an offensive threat to Russia.”
Either Russia or Ukraine Wins
What does the sentence exactly mean? It means that the Biden’s administration was reluctant to send more military aid to Ukraine. As this would probably be seen as a step forward to more tensions between Russia and the US. A scenario of a larger scale war would also become more realistic.
But for Europeans, the Russian threat is real and this year would be decisive whether Ukraine will remain in the hands of Ukrainians or the Western counterattack would push back Russia. It’s this argument that brought Europeans and the US to join forces to militarily provide help to Ukrainians. Join PlayAmo casino and try your luck with one of the best online gambling websites.
Germany to Send Tanks
On Germany’s part, the Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed that his government will send 14 Leopard tanks. He said in a statement: “This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability. We are acting in a closely coordinated manner internationally.”
Officially, Washington and Berlin had denied any common decision between their respective steps to send tanks. But media reports that German officials had made clear, in private, that the Leopards were conditional on the US making a similar commitment. Following these decisions, other European countries decided to tune in to the action. Among them, France and Norway. The latter announced that Leopard 2 tanks will also be sent from their part. Norway’s Defence minister Bjørn Arild Gram, said during an interview at the local public television that “Norway and the government support the donation of a battle tank to Ukraine. Norway will take part.”
Putin’s Reaction to the Announcement
The Russian government, represented by the Kremlin, did not lose time to react to the US decision. Its spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov stated that “Unfortunately, more weapons from NATO bring more suffering for people in Ukraine.” He added that this decision will prevent Russia from reaching its goals.
Russia’s ambassador to the U.S, Anatoly Antonov, said that this “would be another blatant provocation against the Russian Federation.”
The situation is more tense than ever and this year might be critical for the West, Ukraine and Russia.
