US officials said Washington is set to send Ukraine some of its Abrams tanks in a shift from its previous opposition to doing so. The reversal comes amidst pressure from Kyiv, as Germany is also under pressure to send Leopard tanks.
US officials told Reuters Tuesday that Washington is set to begin a process that would send dozens of its M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The decision follows the US argument days prior against sending Abrams tanks despite pressure from Ukraine as well as from Germany, while Berlin is also facing increased pressure to send and authorize the transfer of Leopard tanks to Kyiv.
The officials said an announcement might happen as soon as Wednesday. Another source familiar with the matter said the US commitment may be about 30 tanks that would be delivered in the coming months. The two US officials said the Abrams tanks would likely be acquired through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative fund, where President Joe Biden’s administration would be allowed to get the weapons from the industry instead of the existing US stocks.
One of the officials said it was possible the Biden administration could use the USAI to buy the weapons from allies that have stocks of the Abrams tanks, refurbish them, and then deliver them to Ukraine. However, the process may take months or years. Washington has argued that the Abrams tanks are difficult to maintain, difficult to train Ukrainian troops to operate and run on jet fuel, which would not be a suitable choice for the war.
The Pentagon did not say whether Washington would be providing tanks to Ukraine and instead reiterated the challenges when it came to Abrams tanks.
On the same day, a source familiar with the matter said the US is aware that there are some Chinese companies providing non-lethal assistance to Russia for the war, with officials noting concerns to the Chinese government. The source said that the support Washington was seeing from Chinese firms was non-lethal and economical but fell short of helping Russia evade sanctions.
The US has previously warned China against providing weapons to Russia in its war in Ukraine.