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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – Ukrainian forces will begin training on American M1 Abrams tanks in Germany in the next few weeks, US defense officials said, in what will be a major step in arming Kyiv as it seeks to retake territory from Russia.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced the timeline Friday during a meeting with allies at Ramstein Air Force Base. Defense officials said about 31 tanks were expected to arrive in Germany to begin a training program for Ukrainian forces scheduled for 10 weeks. Combat-ready tanks could reach battlefields in Ukraine by the fall, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss security concerns.
But the United States refused to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Speaking at a news conference after the meeting, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Ukraine’s air defense system had been working effectively for more than a year and kept Russian warplanes “cautious” for fear of being shot down.
Supporting Ukraine’s air defenses, he said, “is the most critical thing right now.” General Milley said the United States will continue to work with its allies, stressing “we must do everything we can to ensure that Ukraine has adequate air defense – ground-based air defense capabilities.”
The Ukrainian leader, requesting jets, tanks and other advanced weapons, has repeatedly expressed frustration with the speed of shipments from supporters in the West. President Volodymyr Zelensky asked NATO’s secretary general this week to help “overcome reluctance” by providing long-range weapons and more modern aircraft and artillery.
“The delay with the appropriate decision is time lost for peace and the lives of our soldiers, who have not received the necessary amount of defense,” he said during a press conference with the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, in Kyiv on Thursday. .
Ukraine resisted Russian attacks in the winter, but at the cost of thousands of artillery shells per day and serious casualties in the eastern war. After a year of staving off the Russian air force, the entire Ukrainian air defense network is also weakened and requires an influx of ammunition, according to US officials and recently leaked Pentagon documents.
Mr Austin, speaking on Friday at US-led talks with top defense officials from 50 countries, a collective known as the Ukraine Contact Group, said the delivery of weapons systems and ammunition and tanks to Kyiv “underlines how the Kremlin miscalculated.”
“Putin thought that he could easily topple the Kyiv government which was democratically elected,” Mr. Austin told the defense ministers gathered in a cavernous room in the officers’ club in Ramstein, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. “They think the wider world will allow them to escape.”
During his trip to Europe – Mr. Austin arrived in Germany on Friday after meetings with top officials in Sweden – also sought to reassure allies after the Pentagon leaked hundreds of top-secret national security documents. A 21-year-old National Guard airman from Massachusetts was arrested and charged in the leak, which involved putting online many documents related to the war in Ukraine.
“I know many of you have been following the reports of the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified US material,” Mr Austin said. “I take this issue very seriously.”
He praised the Ukrainian Contact Group for its “commitment to resist attempts to divide us.”
At a press conference, he said that all members of the group had sent more than 230 tanks to Ukraine, more than 1,550 armored vehicles and enough equipment and ammunition to support nine new armored brigades.
General Milley said that Ukrainian forces have also completed training on how to use America’s Patriot air defense system, and that the Patriot system has arrived in Ukraine this week. The theme of the discussion between the defense ministers, he said, “is air defense, air defense, air defense.”
Ukraine has also received several MIG-29 fighter jets from its two neighbors, Slovakia and Poland. But the jets, designed by the Soviets, are not the sophisticated American-made F-16 fighter jets that Mr Zelensky wants.
The Russian Air Force has largely avoided attacks on Ukraine since the early weeks of the war, when Ukraine was able to move its air defenses and intercept Russian warplanes. Since then, Russia has restricted its aircraft to most of the front line – although it has also suffered significant losses in the areas it claims.
Last summer, an explosion at an air base in Crimea destroyed at least eight Russian fighter jets. In October, a Russian military jet crashed into the courtyard of an apartment building in a southern Russian city, killing 14 people. On Friday, the Defense Ministry said a Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb in the Russian city of Belgorod, killing three people and spreading panic in the city, near the border with Ukraine.
Several countries made new pledges to support Ukraine’s weapons, ammunition and air defense systems, and the defense ministers of Poland, Germany and Ukraine announced plans for a Leopard 2 tank service center to be set up in Poland. Ukraine began receiving these battle tanks from Germany last month, as well as Challenger tanks from Britain.
American defense officials initially said M1 Abrams tanks would not arrive in Ukraine until next year. But since January, when the Biden administration announced it would send tanks, senior defense officials have said they want to speed up the plan.
The training of Ukrainian forces on Abrams tanks must pass qualification tests, maintenance exercises and training on how to operate advanced battle tanks. They must also learn how to coordinate tank maneuvers with other military units, which the American military calls “joint arms” tactics.
This effort is expected to support a Ukrainian counter-offensive that will aim to dislodge Russian forces from the territory captured at the beginning of the invasion, which began almost 14 months ago.
In the year since, countries in the coalition supporting Ukraine have sent $55 billion in weapons, missiles, ammunition, tanks and other armored vehicles to Ukraine, Mr. Austin said. The United States has sent $35 billion of that amount.
Pentagon officials initially expressed misgivings about deploying the Abrams, citing concerns about how Ukraine would maintain its advanced tanks, which require extensive training and servicing. And officials say it will take years to reach the Ukrainian battlefield.
But Mr. Austin finally came around to the view that doing to send American tanks is necessary to spur Germany to follow with its coveted Leopard 2 tanks. Officials at the State Department and the White House argued that giving Germany political cover as it sought to deliver the tanks outweighed the Defense Department’s reluctance, the official said.
And as it turns out, American officials were able to move Abrams tanks to Ukraine sooner than expected. Defense officials said they moved quickly to speed up delivery, and now say the tanks could be in combat use within months.
“I am confident that this equipment, and the training that accompanies it, will put the Ukrainian forces in a position to succeed in battle,” Mr. Austin said.
General Milley said that the M1 tanks that came to Germany were “training tanks,” so they were not combat ready. However, he added about the weapons eventually going to Ukraine, “I think the M1 tanks when they are delivered, will make a difference.”
Anushka Patil contribute reports.
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