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Biden announces that the first American Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “next week”
Published on: September 21, 2023: 10:50 PM GST Last updated: September 22, 2023: 03:11 AM GST
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the first American M1 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “next week” to enhance Kiev’s capabilities in confronting Russian forces in a slow counterattack.
“Next week, the first American Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine,” Biden said at the White House, with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, next to him.
Biden said he had “approved the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine,” which the Pentagon estimated at $325 million.
The aid package includes air defense missiles, ammunition for Hymars missile systems, anti-tank weapons, and artillery rounds.
But the package does not include the long-range American Atakum missiles that Kiev has repeatedly demanded.
Atakmas missile
The package includes 155 mm artillery rounds containing cluster munitions, which Washington had agreed to supply to Ukraine for the first time in July, despite fears of long-term risks to civilians from unexploded bombs.
The United States says it has received assurances from Kiev that it will minimize the risks posed by these weapons to civilians, including not using them in populated areas.
Washington pledged to deliver 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine at the beginning of the year as part of a pledge of military aid worth more than $43 billion. The tanks will be equipped with 120 mm armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds.
This ammunition is controversial because it is linked to health problems such as cancer and congenital disorders in areas where it was used in previous conflicts, although it has not been conclusively proven that they cause them.
The decision to supply Ukraine with Abrams tanks represented a shift in the American position, as American military officials had repeatedly indicated that it was a complex weapon that was not suitable for Ukrainian forces.
Earlier Thursday, the White House announced that the United States would provide Ukraine with “significant” air defense capabilities, but without providing it at the current stage with the long-range Atakmus missiles it demands.
White House National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan said in a press conference that US President Joe Biden “decided that he would not supply (Kiev) Atakmus missiles, but he did not rule out this possibility in the future.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is in Washington preparing to visit the White House, announced this week that leaving without obtaining these powerful tactical missiles would constitute a “disappointment” for him.
He praised the results of the counterattack launched by the Ukrainian armed forces and was criticized by American military officials in the press.
“Ukraine is already regaining its territory, and it is doing so systematically, step by step,” he said.
Joe Biden’s advisor considered that, thanks in particular to American military assistance, the Ukrainian forces succeeded in “liberating more territory in three months than the Russians were able to seize in eight months.”
“Many major cities in Ukraine are not under Russian occupation or control today,” Sullivan said. “Firstly thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian soldiers and the Ukrainian people who support them, but also, to a large extent, thanks to the material support we have provided.”
Some members of the US Congress from the Republican opposition are calling on the United States to put an end to financial and military aid to Ukraine, considering that its cause is a lost one.
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2023-09-21 23:11:49
