“We continue to have discussions with Ukrainians and our allies and partners about what are the medium- and long-term defense requirements for Ukraine,” Ryder said. “The M1 is a complex weapons system that is challenging to maintain … that was true yesterday, that is true today and will be true in the future,” a Pentagon spokesperson, Brig Gen Pat Ryder, told reporters. On Tuesday, the Pentagon declined to say whether Washington would provide tanks to Ukraine but reiterated the challenges the Abrams posed. US officials had said that the Abrams was tough to maintain, hard to train Ukrainians to operate, and ran on jet fuel – making it a poor choice for this phase of the war. They could also help Ukraine retake some of the territory that has fallen to Russia. Ukraine says heavily armoured western battle tanks would give its troops more mobility and protection ahead of a new Russian offensive that Kyiv expects in the near future. The process can take months and even years. The reports said it was possible the Biden administration could use the USAI process to buy the Abrams from allies who have them, refurbish them, then send them to Ukraine. They added that the Abrams would probably be procured through a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows Joe Biden’s administration to get weapons from industry rather than from existing US weapons stocks. When the needed weighty decisions are made, we will be happy to thank you for each weighty decision.”Ī decision by the United States to send the Abrams would come just days after Washington argued against sending the tanks, despite demands from Kyiv and public pressure from Berlin. Allies have the required number of tanks. Decisions on real strengthening of our defence against terrorists. “However, discussions must be concluded with decisions. And I am grateful to everyone who supports us in this. Every day we are doing everything necessary to fill the deficit.
“But it is important to see the reality: it is not about five, or 10, or 15 tanks. In response to the reports, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address that Russia was preparing for a new wave of aggression and that he had seen “a lot of effort, words and promises” about tanks.
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