U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is considering supplying Ukraine with around 30 Abrams tanks, Politico reported on Jan. 24, citing an unnamed U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The news comes after the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed U.S. officials, that the U.S. is leaning toward sending a significant number of M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
According to both media outlets, the move could be announced as early as this week.
The official who spoke with the WSJ noted the delivery would be “part of a broader diplomatic understanding with Germany in which Berlin would agree to send a smaller number of its own Leopard 2 tanks and would also approve the delivery of more of the German-made tanks by Poland and other nations.”
On Jan. 22, U.S. lawmakers called for giving Ukraine Abrams tanks as a way to push Germany to authorize the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
There have been media reports that Germany would approve the delivery of Leopards if the U.S. supplied Abrams tanks to Kyiv. However, the German government has denied making such a demand.
On Jan. 24, ABC News reported that 12 countries have agreed to give Ukraine around 100 Leopard 2 tanks after Berlin approves. The agreements were made at the Ramstein defense summit, according to the official cited by the publication.
According to Der Spiegel's sources, Germany has decided to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, as well as authorize the supply of the tanks by other countries.
Modern Western tanks are expected to give Ukraine a major equipment advantage over Russia, which relies on old Soviet stock.
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