WASHINGTON (Realist English). The administration of US President Joseph Biden is preparing to send Abrams tanks to the Ukraine, the CNBC reports.
We are talking about the supply of several dozen tanks. At the same time, American officials have stressed that the decision is not yet final and may change. On January 25, the White House intends to announce details of upcoming deliveries.
The Ukrainians won’t get the tanks right away. The officials have said that it will take many months before the combat vehicles arrive on the territory of the Ukraine. The training of the Ukrainian servicemen will also take several months. The supplies will be paid for as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, under which weapons and equipment come from the private sector, and not from the stocks of the US Armed Forces.
The Abrams tanks will not be delivered until spring, the Washington Post said. In its turn, the ABC notes with reference to an American official that the Ukraine will receive the tanks in a year – including due to the need to conclude contracts with the manufacturers.
Earlier, the German government agreed to supply Leopard 2 battle tanks to Kiev.
On January 25, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov promised to destroy the tanks that the United States would supply to the Ukraine, as well as all other samples of Western weaponry: “If a decision is made to transfer the M1 Abrams to Kiev, the American tanks will undoubtedly be destroyed, like all other samples of NATO military equipment.”
According to him, Washington is trying to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia, and the latest deliveries of military equipment give the “green light” for an “attack on Crimea”.
