After weeks of talks, Biden announces US will send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine

After much back and forth between western allies, US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the United States will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to aid in the fight against the ongoing Russian invasion.

Biden’s announcement came after weeks of tough negotiations between Germany, the United States, and other western allies who have German-made Leopard tanks over whether to send them to Ukraine. Biden specified in his speech that the move to send the US tanks to Ukraine is not an attack on Russia. “This is about helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land. It is not an offensive threat to Russia,” the president said.

A senior administrative official from the White House said in a press briefing following Biden’s announcement that the decision to provide Ukraine with the tanks it has been asking for for months, “a continuation of our effort to provide Ukraine with the capabilities that they need to continue to better defend themselves and also, in keeping with that, representative of a long-term — long-term commitment that we have to Ukraine’s defense needs.”

Germany has also agreed to send 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Both countries have indicated the new equipment will take weeks if not months to deliver to Ukraine and to train Ukrainian soldiers in how to use them. 

Another White House official told reporters on Wednesday, the delivery of tanks to Ukraine is part of the United States and its allies’ “ongoing support to Ukraine, which the President and other leaders, including in the G7 format, have reiterated will continue for as long as it takes.”