WASHINGTON, January 19. /TASS/. The US administration thinks that the time is not right to supply Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian army, according to Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl who returned to the US after a visit to Ukraine.
He stressed that the US is not ready to send the Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces. "I just don't think we're there yet," Reuters quoted him as saying. "The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It's expensive. It's hard to train on. It has a jet engine."
On Wednesday, Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was ready to allow the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Kiev if the US supplies it with the Abrams tanks. Kahl was asked to comment on this information. "I think if there is a concern about being alone in providing this capability, that shouldn't be a concern," he replied. That said, Reuters stresses that the US official did not confirm that the US was ready for these conditions. "But at the end of the day, you know, the German government is going to make a sovereign decision," he said.
In his opinion, the provision of Bradley fighting vehicles and Western arms training will enable Kiev to change the conflict’s dynamic "by being able to fire and maneuver through the use of more mechanized forces." "Really what we're focused on is surging those capabilities to Ukraine for the next phase of the conflict to really try to change that dynamic and continue the momentum that the Ukrainians had in the late summer and early fall," he asserted.
It is expected that the next package of US military aid to Ukraine may be up to $2.6 bln. According to the Associated Press, it may include, among other things, about 100 Stryker fighting vehicles and at least 50 Bradleys.
According to the Pentagon’s estimates, since the onset of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the US has provided over $24.2 bln in military aid to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have repeatedly noted the danger of Western weapon supplies to Ukraine ending up in other regions. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov cautioned that the militarization of Ukraine by the West directly threatens European and global security.