[ad_1]
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allies on Friday to dig deeper to support Ukraine at the start of a meeting of dozens of defense ministers at an air base in Germany, as pressure piled on Berlin to supply tanks to Kyiv.
NATO and defense leaders from about 50 countries including Canada met at Ramstein Air Base, the latest in a series of arms pledging conferences since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
“The Russians are regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip,” Austin said at the start of the meeting.
“This is not the time to slow down. This is the time to dig deeper. The Ukrainians are watching us,” he said without making specific reference to tanks.
President of Ukraine Volodmyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the beginning of the meeting actually, thanked the allies for their support, but said that more is needed and sooner.
“We must speed it up. Time must be our weapon,” Zelenskyy said.
The United States announced an additional $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine on Thursday, a package that will include more armored vehicles and ammunition.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand announced the day before that Ottawa is donating 200 Canadian-made armored personnel carriers (APCs) to Ukraine.
WATCH | Canada’s APC will transport Ukrainian troops to safety, ambassador says:
Tank Talk is expected
But the main focus is whether Germany will send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine or at least approve their transfer from a third country.
Germany has been one of the top military supporters of Ukraine in response to the Russian invasion, overcoming a taboo rooted in the history of the bloody 20th century, but has not yet agreed to send tanks or allow other countries to send their own German tanks.
Leopard tanks seem to be very suitable for Ukraine because they are widely used, which means that some countries can chip in some tanks to support Ukraine.
It will also make it easier for Ukraine to manage crew maintenance and training.
WATCH Logistics problems, political considerations swirl around the tank discussion, analysts say:
Critics say German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the ruling SPD are too slow, waiting for allies to act instead of assuming Germany’s responsibility as the closest Western power to Ukraine.
A government source in Germany said it would continue the issue of Leopard tanks if the United States agreed to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
The United States has made it clear that it will not send Abrams in the long term, arguing that it would be a logistical nightmare for Ukrainian forces to use American tanks because of the fuel and maintenance required.
In one of his first interviews as Germany’s new defense minister on Thursday, Boris Pistorius did not clearly describe the delivery of the Abrams as a requirement for Leopard supply.
“We know very well that [the Leopard] can play an important role,” he told German public TV station ZDF, while stressing the importance of joint transatlantic decisions.
“No one has ruled that Leopard tanks can be delivered – or that approval can be given for the delivery of other European partners.”
Public pressure was building in Berlin.
“Ukrainians will fight! With tanks or without. But every tank from Ramstein means saving Ukrainian lives,” wrote Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk on Telegram.
More military aid announced
Several countries will announce the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Friday at a meeting in Ramstein, Lithuania’s defense minister said on Thursday.
Poland could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine even without Germany’s re-export agreement, the deputy foreign minister said on Friday, ahead of a crunch meeting on arms for Kyiv.
WATCH | International coordination is essential as war priorities change: Britain’s Cleverly:
Britain has said that it will send 14 of its main battle tanks along with additional artillery support to Ukraine, a step officials hope will open the door for Germany to make a similar move.
A Kremlin spokesman said on Friday that Western countries providing additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict and would only exacerbate the problems of Ukrainian citizens.
Also, speaking of Russia’s relationship with the United States specifically, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Bilateral relations are probably at the lowest point in history, unfortunately.”
Fighting has been most intense in the industrial region known as Donbas on Ukraine’s eastern border with Russia, Ukrainian military officials said Thursday night.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces attacked the town of Bakhmut, Russia’s main target in Donetsk province, which together with Luhansk province forms Donbas.
Soledar, about 20 kilometers from Bakhmut, was also burnt. Russian forces say they are in control of Soledar, while Ukrainian sources say their military is still fighting there.
“Ukrainian forces are practically stable on the Bakhmut front,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said on YouTube. “Today, Russia is turning Soledar into a military center. And they are trying to direct their forces to the cities of Spirne and Bilohorivka – only in the Luhansk region.”
Reuters could not verify the battlefield report.
[ad_2]
Source link