After a continuous debate, yesterday the US and Germany officially announced approval for sending Leopard 2 and 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine. The first German-made Leopards are expected to arrive in Ukraine in three months; Berlin will also permit the other allies to provide Ukraine with Leopards since about 2,000 of them are spread across European depots. Leopards will be able to get to Ukraine in a shorter period than the Abrams tanks, which are even more powerful, but also more complicated.
As the spring is on its way and a new Russian offensive is expected by Ukrainian leaders, more heavy weaponry is required to counter attacks on the ground. Shifting from sole defense to recapturing lost territories has been an emphasized part of Ukraine’s narrative to its western partners, which became a hot point for discussion within the coalition.
Giving Ukraine the ability to use western weapons for a counteroffensive was seen as a risk of escalating the conflict with Russia by certain countries. While Polish authorities encouraged increasing arms shipments to Ukraine, Germany was demanding the same levels of commitment across the coalition, in particular, from the US. Earlier, the US showed hesitance to send sophisticated Abrams tanks to Ukraine due to the costs, and the complexity of the operation, maintenance, and logistics.
Change of heart came with the need to demonstrate the unity between allies:” The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up. But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”, Biden appealed at the White House. He also underlined that this step should not be seen by Russia as an attempt at escalation:” That’s what this is about: helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land. It is not an offensive threat to Russia.”
Russian officials stated that these decisions prove the war against Russia, planned, now officially involves Germany and “takes the conflict to a new level”.
After these announcements, the next morning in Ukraine began with a new intense wave of Russian missile attacks, which killed at least eleven people in Kyiv and damaged critical infrastructure in Odesa.
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