Washington will not supply Abrams tanks to Ukraine anytime soon
The United States is not ready to supply Ukraine with the most advanced and powerful Abrams tanks, a senior Pentagon official said Wednesday, justifying this refusal by maintenance and training issues, writes AFP.
Ukraine has been asking the West for several weeks for modern tanks to end the Russian invasion, but they have so far only sent light tanks and armoured personnel carriers.
"I don't think we're there," Pentagon number three Colin Kahl said during a news conference about the possibility of sending Abrams tanks to Kyiv after the weekend announcement by Britain, which was the first country to promise heavy tanks, Challenger 2.
"The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It is expensive, requires difficult training, and has a jet engine. I think it consumes 11 litres of kerosene per km," said Kahl, Undersecretary of Defense for Strategy. "It's not the easiest system to maintain," he added, without ruling out a change in the US position in the future.
He also noted that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has so far carefully avoided supplying the Ukrainians with weaponry that "they cannot repair, maintain and afford in the long term, because they do not present no interest".
According to several American and German media, Germany is refusing to deliver its Leopard main battle tanks to Kyiv until Washington does the same with the Abrams.
