Jan 25, 2023
Biden administration to provide Ukraine with 31 Abrams tanks
This news has been received from: washingtonexaminer.com
All trademarks, copyrights, videos, photos and logos are owned by respective news sources. News stories, videos and live streams are from trusted sources.
mail: [NewsMag]
The Biden administration has agreed to provide Ukraine with more than 30 Abrams tanks, marking a reversal from a week ago when officials said such a move wouldn't make sense due to the maintenance and training requirements.
President Joe Biden's team will give Ukraine 31 tanks, which is the equivalent of one Ukrainian tank battalion, a senior administration official told reporters, adding that the donation is being made through the Ukraine security assistance initiative.
The USAI program is about the procurement of weapons so the delivery of the Abrams tanks are expected to take many months before they reach Ukrainian territory. The package will also include the procurement of 8 M88 recovery vehicles.RUSSIA HAS 'NO CHANCE' TO 'ACHIEVE THEIR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES,' DOD OFFICIAL SAYS
Ukrainian leaders have pleaded for tanks from their Western allies for weeks as they prepare for an expected Russian offensive in the coming months, though Germany held up those efforts over the last week by declining to provide their Leopard tanks and they barred other European countries from providing their German-made tanks as well. German officials reportedly told U.S. lawmakers that he would not send Leopards into the conflict unless President Joe Biden also sent Abrams tanks.
Germany has since reversed course and announced on Wednesday that they would provide a company of 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks.
“This is the result of intensive consultations that took place with Germany’s closest European and international partners. This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the Ukraine to the best of our ability," German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said.
Defense officials from roughly 50 countries met at Ramstein air base in Germany last week in the eighth meeting of the Defense Contact Group, and they left without coming to an agreement on the tanks debate demonstrating what could have been the first cracks within the NATO alliance as it relates to their support for Ukraine.
U.S. defense officials said last week that providing the Abrams tanks did not make sense due to the difficulties of sustaining them.
"The Abrams are — it's more of a sustainment issue. I mean, this is a tank that requires jet fuel, whereas the Leopard and the Challenger, it's a different engine. They require diesel. It's a little bit easier to maintain. They can maneuver across large portions of territory before they need to refuel. The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams," deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters last Thursday. "It just doesn't make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment."
On the reversal, a senior administration official said the U.S. "will have the ability to put in place a very careful training program but also a very careful program to be able to maintain and sustain these tanks, which do require a good deal of assistance," though the official did not specifically say what changed the U.S.'s calculation on providing the tanks.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Russian officials have already criticized the west for providing tanks, accusing them of escalating the war, which just marked its eleventh month on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately more weapons from NATO bring more suffering for people in Ukraine. It also brings more attention to the continent but it cannot prevent Russia from reaching our goals," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, while Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechaev called Berlin's decision to send tanks to Kiev "highly dangerous," and said it "takes the conflict to a new level of confrontation."
The United Kingdom announced it would supply 14 “Challenger 2” tanks to Kyiv, Poland has sought Germany's approval to send them Leopard tanks, and other European countries could follow suit.
Opinion Every corporation’s ESG report should address depopulation risk By: Timothy P. Carney WATCH: Hero who disarmed California gunman describes nightmare incident Sign up now to get the Washington Examiner’s breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. War in Ukraine News Defense National Security Russia Ukraine GermanyNews Source: washingtonexaminer.com
Mineta Airport awarded almost $11m for upgrades, improvements
Dollar General Marks Milestone, 19,000th Store Opening
Cupertino mayor set to give State of the City address Feb. 15
Dove Gallery competition exhibit features 40 local artists
Brighton 2 Liverpool 1: Mitoma scores stunning injury-time winner to give hosts deserved FA Cup win
Oscar-nominated star reveals he is returning to his day job as he makes coffee at Starbucks
Next News:
WATCH: Elizabeth Warren Says Yes Biden Should Run Again — But REFUSES To Say Kamala Harris Should Be His VP
Massachusetts Senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren emphatically endorsed a reelection bid by President Joe Biden — but hit the brakes when asked if Vice President Kamala Haris should be his running mate.
The president has said over and over again that it is his intention to run for reelection, and definitely with VP Harris, including the first time he was asked just two months into his term. But both questions — will he run and will he replace Harris — have persisted nonetheless.
When Warren was a guest on Boston Public Radio Friday, she was asked both questions toward the tail end of an extensive interview:
HOST: You’re speaking of your having run for president. Should Joe Biden run again for president? He’ll be 86 by the time his second term is over.
SENATOR WARREN: Yes, he should run again. And he is running again because he has gotten a tremendous amount done. It’s been two years. He’s had this hideous possible majority in the United States Senate and only a very small majority in the House. And yet look at what we’ve done.
I’ll pick one that I just love. Besides the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the first time we’ve raised corporate taxes in 30 years. We also got the biggest climate package we’ve ever gotten. It goes into effect right now, the $35 cap for seniors on insulin. Think about these things. Seniors are not going to have to spend more than $2,000 a year on pharmacy prescription drugs.
But look at the other the CHIPS. So I love to say this, Bill, the CHIPS and SCIENCE bill!
This, when I ran for Senate a decade ago, I said one of the things I think we need to do as a nation, we need to double our investment in science. That is exactly what we did last summer. And Joe Biden signed that into law. He showed he’s willing to wade into the fights. He waited in the fight on student loan debt for 43 million Americans.
HOST: If he’s that old in a second term, that vice presidency becomes even more important. Should Kamala Harris, be the, his choice a second time around?
SENATOR WARREN: Y’know, ah, you know, I really want to defer to what makes Biden comfortable on his team. I’ve known Kamala for a long time. I like Kamala. I knew her back when she was when she was attorney general. And I was still teaching. And we worked on the housing crisis together. So we go way back. But they need, they have to be a team. And my sense is they are. I don’t mean that by suggesting I think there are any problems. I think they are.
In 2020, then-Sen. Harris clashed with Warren over whether a pre-insurrection then-President Donald Trump should be banned from Twitter — Warren was a “no.”
Harris went on to become Biden’s running mate amid an intense lobbying campaign on warren’s behalf by her supporters.
Watch above via Boston Public Radio.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com