The Biden administration is weighing sending Stryker armored vehicles in an upcoming military aid package to Ukraine, expected for Friday, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
The people who spoke to Bloomberg said the U.S. package is part of a broader announcement by Western allies for new military equipment that is set for Jan. 20 during the next meeting of defense ministers at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Politico earlier reported that the U.S. was considering sending Stryker armored combat vehicles to Ukraine in an aid package amid fears of a renewed Russian offensive in spring, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The upcoming U.S. aid package for Ukraine will likely not include American M1 Abrams tanks, according to three undisclosed U.S. officials cited by Politico.
“The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment,” Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl told reporters at the Pentagon on Jan. 18, Bloomberg reported. “It’s expensive, it’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine. I think it’s about three gallons to the mile of jet fuel. It is not the easiest system to maintain. It may or may not be the right system.”
On Jan. 18, the European Parliament also urged Germany to transfer long-pledged Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “without further delay,” amid German German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's continued reluctance to give the green light to European countries to provide their German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
But Scholz reportedly told U.S. President Joe Biden that Germany will not send the tanks to Ukraine or allow other countries to send them, unless the U.S. agrees to send its Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed German official.
