"Coalition of tanks": More than 150 Western tanks of various models for Kiev
Ukraine is going to receive more than 150 modern Leopard and Abrams main battle tanks from allies, following decisions announced by the US and Germany. After President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave the go-ahead to sending battle tanks to Ukraine, other states also announced their willingness to re-export tanks to the battlefield, including Poland and Finland. Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is asking Western countries for long-range missiles and fighter jets. And a European country wants to give Kiev cluster bombs.
The president of Ukraine welcomed the transfer of modern tanks by the western countries to Kiev, calling it a "coalition of tanks". Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany and the United States for the decision to send 45 Leopards and Abrams to the combat zone. Other countries have also expressed their intention to provide Ukraine with combat equipment. In general, Kiev can get more than 150 Western tanks of various models. But it will take several months for them to be delivered and for the Ukrainian military to be trained.
"The most important things now are speed and volume. The speed of training of our soldiers, the speed of tank deliveries and the volume of support," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Pentagon says it will soon begin training Ukrainian troops ahead of a suspected Russian offensive in the spring.
"These tanks are intended to help Ukraine fight effectively in the open, defend its sovereignty and borders, and regain the territory that the Russians took from them," emphasised the representative of the National Security Council of the White House, John Kirby.
As soon as Berlin and Washington announced the delivery of tanks, videos of their transfer to several European countries began to appear on social networks. In Kyiv, people believe that the arrival of Western tanks will be a turning point in the confrontation with Russia. At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked Western allies for long-range missiles as well as fighter jets.
"We also need to allow the delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine, this is important. We also need to expand our cooperation on artillery and the dispatch of fighter jets. And this is a goal, and this is a task. An important task for all of us", emphasised the leader of Kyiv, Volodymyr Zelensky.
At the same time, a European country offered to send cluster bombs to Ukraine. An official who did not want to be identified says, according to AFP, that the controversial weapons, whose use by Russia has been criticised, could be useful on the battlefield. For his part, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that the American Abrams tanks "will burn like all the others", and their high cost, in the opinion of the Russian official, "will fall on the shoulders of European taxpayers". Moscow says Berlin made the decision to supply tanks to Ukraine under pressure from Washington. According to Vladimir Putin, US troops in Germany legally remain occupation forces, and the country itself "has never been a sovereign state in the full sense of the word".
