US Expected To Announce Major Arms Package For Ukraine As Kiev Requests Tanks - Reports

The United States may announce a major military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days as Kiev continues to plead with Washington to be supplied main battle tanks despite the Defense Department's reluctance to provide them, CNN reported on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2023) The United States may announce a major military aid package for Ukraine in the coming days as Kiev continues to plead with Washington to be supplied main battle tanks despite the Defense Department's reluctance to provide them, CNN reported on Wednesday.

The Biden administration may announce the package as the multilateral Ukraine Defense Contact Group prepares to meet in Germany later this week, the report said, citing two US officials familiar with the package.

During the meeting, Ukraine will inform the United States and other partner nations of its battlefield needs and how to meet them. Ukrainian officials have recently put requests for air defense systems and modern tanks at the forefront of discussions on military aid.

Although countries, including the United Kingdom and Poland, have announced their intent to deliver tanks to Ukraine, the United States has so far been reluctant to provide them.

Instead, the United States promised to deliver Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine as part of a security assistance package earlier this month - its largest to date with a value of more than $3 billion.

Modern US tanks such as the M1A2 Abrams require extensive training to maintain and operate, making fielding the vehicles a time-consuming process, the report said, citing retired US Army Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe.

"It would not be something that you can just, 'Hey we field Abrams to you today and you're fighting with it tomorrow.' That's now even in the realm of the possible," Donahoe is quoted as saying in the report.

The United Kingdom is expected to begin training Ukrainian forces on their Challenger 2 tanks soon, while Poland requires approval from Germany before exporting its German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. However, Germany is unlikely to approve the transfer unless the US sends its own tanks, the report said.

Too many tanks could also have a detrimental impact on Ukraine's military maintenance abilities, Donahoe was quoted as saying in the report, adding that the Challengers, Leopards and Abrams are completely different systems with barriers to integration.

Tanks from Western nations will not change the situation in Ukraine and they will be considered targets for the Russian forces, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this week.