West’s about-turn with pledge to roll out heavy-duty firepower upgrade for Ukraine
AMERICA and Germany will send armoured vehicles to Ukraine and Britain signalled it was willing to follow suit in a major policy shift.
Joe Biden announced the US will send 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, referred to as “light tanks”, while Berlin will send Marder Infantry vehicles.
The policy shift came after France became the first Western nation to commit what it described as “light battle tanks” to the fight against Russia.
Mr Macron’s move heaped pressure on Western allies, who have long refused to send tanks over fears of provoking Vladimir Putin.
James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, said Britain was open to sending Ukraine tanks and “will continue to evolve our support” as Kyiv readies “the next phase of their self-defence”.
For months the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has pleaded for armoured vehicles, which he said Kyiv needed to counter the tanks that have been a key advantage for Russia.
Washington and Berlin said yesterday that they had shifted their stance on the vehicles as Western allies announced similar moves. In a joint statement released by the White House, Mr Biden and the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, confirmed the supply. Both countries plan to train Ukrainian forces in the respective systems.
The two leaders expressed “their common determination to continue to provide the necessary financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as needed”.
Germany will also follow the US in sending a state-of-the-art Patriot missile system to Ukraine to help ward off Russian air attacks.
Poland has provided tanks, and France said on Wednesday that it will send an unspecified number of its AMX-10RC armoured vehicles.
The Bradleys will be included in a new $2.85billion (£2.52billion) US military aid package.
Included will be Humvees, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, missiles and other ammunition.
The Bradleys are medium-armoured combat vehicles seen as a critical way to move troops safely into battle. They have tracks rather than wheels, but are lighter and more agile than a tank.
“Bradleys would provide a major increase in ground combat capability because it is, in effect, a light tank,” Mark Cancian, a former White House staffer, said last month.
The Bradleys provide “a level of firepower and armour that will bring advantages on the battlefield” Pentagon spokesman Gen Pat Ryder said.
“It’s not a tank, but it’s a tank killer,” Gen Ryder said. “It will aid them on the battlefield.”
Pentagon officials said the move was part of an effort to get as much military hardware to Ukrainian forces as possible before an expected increase in fighting in the spring.
Germany was also nearing a decision to send dozens of Marder vehicles from its stocks.