Washington The United States is currently refusing to supply US battle tanks to Ukraine, even though the German government wants to avoid going it alone in Europe. US Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said in Washington on Wednesday that the common American tank M1 Abrams is a “very complicated” piece of armament. It is expensive, requires difficult training and consumes a lot of fuel with its turbine drive. “It’s not the easiest system to maintain.”
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin does not want to supply the Ukrainians with weapons “that they cannot repair, that they cannot maintain and that they cannot afford in the long term because that is not helpful,” Kahl said. It’s not about what “is symbolically valuable, but about what really helps Ukraine on the battlefield.” At the same time, Kahl did not completely rule out the possibility that the United States could supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks in the future. The US is “not there yet,” he said.
Most recently, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had made possible German tank deliveries subject to a condition in talks with US President Joe Biden. In a telephone call to Biden on Tuesday, the Chancellor said that Germany would only supply Leopard tanks if the United States provided Abrams-type main battle tanks. US media such as the Wall Street Journal confirmed the information.
But there are increasing signs that the USA does not want to take this step for the moment. Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that each country must make its “own sovereign decisions” on arms deliveries to Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a similar statement.
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New US tranche is imminent
On Friday, according to CNN and Politico, the US government will announce a new $2.5 billion weapons package for Ukraine. The tranche includes additional artillery, ammunition and Stryker armored fighting vehicles. However, no long-range tactical missile systems or tanks are planned. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is pushing for both.
According to Politico, the US government sees German Leopard tanks as making the most sense for use in Ukraine, as they are easier to maintain than Abrams tanks. It is seen as an advantage that a number of European countries already have the device and the tanks could therefore be made available more quickly.
The expectation in Washington is that the federal government will at least allow other countries to pass on the Leopard tanks produced in Germany. “The Secretary of Defense will urge the Germans to do this,” the magazine quoted a senior US Pentagon official as saying.
>> Track here: All current developments on the Ukraine war in the live log
Defense Minister Austin meets with the new Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) in Berlin on Thursday. Austin tweeted on Wednesday evening after landing in Germany that he would also meet Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt. A meeting of the Ukraine contact group at the US base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate is scheduled for Friday. The delivery of western main battle tanks is likely to play a major role in this.
Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago. In Kyiv, there are fears of a winter offensive by Moscow, in which Russia threatens to take the Ukrainian capital.
Scholz has so far spoken out against the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The argument he used was that Germany shouldn’t go it alone. In the meantime, however, Poland and other EU and NATO countries have signaled that they want to send their own Leopard tanks. They are only allowed to do this if they get permission from Germany, the country of manufacture.
Republicans address Biden and Scholz
Exporting modern western-made tanks would be a significant course change. For the Biden administration, every new military shipment is a delicate balancing act. For example, the United States does not want to send long-range weapons that can penetrate deep into Russia to the country at war. Because that could pull the US and its allies into a direct conflict with Vladimir Putin. “That would blow up NATO,” Biden said when he met Zelensky before Christmas.
John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council in the White House, advocated the use of tanks in Ukraine on Wednesday. “We believe that providing modern tanks will greatly support and improve the Ukrainians’ ability to fight more effectively in the future,” he said. However, he was explicitly referring to European tanks.
Since the outbreak of war, the US has approved over $100 billion in aid to Ukraine, including combat vehicles, military trucks, mine-resistant vehicles and the Patriot missile defense system. Sections of the US Republicans, who have held a majority in the House of Representatives since January, are threatening to block further Ukraine funds.
However, there are also enough Republicans for whom the current Ukraine aid does not go far enough: “The governments of Biden and Scholz should follow the example of our British and Eastern European allies,” wrote Republicans Mike McCaul and Mike Rogers on Wednesday. You chair the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees in the House of Representatives.
Leopard 2 tanks and other “long-range precision munitions” must be “approved immediately,” they said. Both Republicans compared the hesitation on the tank issue to the West’s failure to stop the controversial German-Russian pipeline Nord Stream 2 in time for Putin’s invasion.
More: The traffic light is divided on the tank question – and the new defense minister is caught between the chairs
With agency material