West offers to send tanks to Ukraine
Artillery will help tip balance against any Russian springtime offensive.
Western officials, who increasingly fear that Ukraine has only a narrow window to prepare to repel an anticipated Russian springtime offensive, are moving fast to give the Ukrainians sophisticated weapons they had earlier refused to send for fear of provoking Moscow.
Over the past few weeks, one barrier after another has fallen, starting with an agreement by the United States in late December to send a Patriot air defence system.
That was followed by a German commitment this month to provide a Patriot missile battery, and in the span of hours, France, Germany and the United States each promised to send armoured fighting vehicles to Ukraine’s battlefields for the first time.
Now it looks likely that modern Western tanks will be added to the growing list of powerful weapons being sent Ukraine’s way, as the United States and its allies take on more risk to defend Ukraine — especially as its military has made unexpected advances and held out against withering assaults.
While Ukraine has been requesting sophisticated tanks since the start of the war, the push to satisfy those pleas gained speed this week as the British and Polish governments publicly urged a change in the Western alliance’s stance.
The British signalled that they were close to agreeing to send a small number of tanks, and the Polish government said it would happily send some of its German-made tanks, although Berlin would need to allow it.
Ukraine hopes that the increased pressure will persuade Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz to authorise the export to Ukraine of German-made tanks in the arsenals of other Nato allies.
The tanks, called the Leopard 2s, are among the most coveted by Kyiv, and experts say that in significant numbers, they would substantially increase Ukraine’s ability to drive back Russian forces.
“Somebody always has to set an example,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Polish state-run broadcaster TVP Info.
A German defence ministry spokesman said no decision had been made by the government of Mr Scholz, a Social Democrat. But his coalition partners, the Greens and Free Democrats, support sending the tanks, and on Thursday, a senior minister amped up the pressure.
“There is a difference between making a decision for yourself and preventing others from making a decision,” Germany’s economics minister and vice chancellor, Robert Habeck of the Greens, said in Berlin.
Tanks, designed more than a century ago to break through trench warfare, are a combination of firepower, mobility and shock effect. Armed with large cannons, moving on metal treads and built with stronger protective armour than any other weapon on a battlefield, tanks can go over rough, muddy or sandy terrain where wheeled fighting vehicles might struggle.
In Ukraine, officials say armoured vehicles will play a key role in battles for control of the fiercely contested towns and cities in the eastern provinces that border Russia. Ukraine’s most senior military commander, Gen Valery Zaluzhny, has said Ukraine needs some 300 Western tanks and about 600 Western armoured fighting vehicles to make a difference.
The sense of urgency over sending more powerful weapons partly reflects the grim standoff on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, where for months the Russians have tried to seize the city of Bakhmut and the surrounding area, suffering heavy casualties but gaining little ground. In the past week, the fighting has been especially brutal in the nearby town of Soledar, going block to block and house to house, with conflicting claims about control of the town.
Nato allies that were once part of the Soviet sphere have given their Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine. But much of Kyiv’s fleet has been destroyed or worn down by months of battle, and it is running low on ammunition, which is incompatible with Western munitions.
Since the war began nearly a year ago, the West has resisted giving some of its most potent weapons to Ukraine, fearing that would bring Nato into direct conflict with Russia. But seeing Ukraine’s determination to resist, little prospect of peace talks anytime soon and a stalemate on the battlefield, Nato allies are relenting.
The Patriots they recently agreed to are the most advanced American-made air defence system and will help protect Kyiv and other densely populated areas from Russian strikes that have crippled Ukraine’s electricity grid. The armoured fighting vehicles approved last week are lighter and easier to manoeuvre on the battlefield than tanks and can carry more troops, but are not as powerful.
There are still some weapons not being considered, including fighter jets and longer-range missiles that could hit occupied Crimea and Russia itself. The Biden administration, leading the coalition of allies supplying Ukraine with weapons, is holding back American-made M1 Abrams tanks, which require constant upkeep and special fuel, and which officials say are too scarce to spare.
But US officials maintain they have never stood in the way of Germany or any other nation sending Western tanks to Ukraine. There are an estimated 2,000 German-made Leopard tanks in more than a dozen militaries across Europe. Some could be shipped quickly to Ukraine if Berlin approved, although Ukrainian crews would have to be trained to use them.
A senior Western military official said that altering the balance of forces in eastern Ukraine is needed to break the stalemate in the war, and that sending in enough modern Western battle tanks and other combat vehicles could help to tip that balance. Without tanks, a powerful component of ground warfare, it is unlikely that Ukraine will be able to win back significant amounts of territory, the official said.
Somebody always has to set an example. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY