The desire of the government in Kyiv to receive M1-Abrams and Leopard II main battle tanks will also remain unfulfilled at the meeting of the Ukraine contact group in Ramstein on Friday.

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it would not deliver the Abrams tank to Kyiv.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, has made the delivery of Leopard II tanks dependent on the Americans also providing heavy battle tanks.

Majid Sattar

Political correspondent for North America based in Washington.

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In Washington, Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said the Abrams tank was a "very complicated" armament.

It is expensive, requires difficult training and consumes a lot of fuel with its turbine drive.

"It's not the easiest system to maintain." And Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin doesn't want to supply the Ukrainians with weapons "that they can't repair, that they can't maintain and that they can't afford in the long term because that won't help." , he continued.

"It's not about a news cycle or what's symbolically valuable, it's about what really helps Ukraine on the battlefield." He made it so clear that the previous refusal to supply the main battle tank is not about the risk of escalation , i.e. the assumption that Moscow could take the step as an opportunity to expand the war.

Kahl did not completely rule out the possibility that Washington could supply Kyiv with Abrams tanks in the future.

White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the US government is in "constant communication" with Ukraine and will continue to provide what the country needs.

You currently have "no new announcements".

Report on additional arms shipments

Meanwhile, the online portal "Politico" reports, citing American officials, that the Biden administration will announce at the meeting at the American air base in Ramstein on Friday that it will provide Kyiv with additional armaments, including artillery and ammunition.

Stryker armored vehicles would likely be included.

Presumably, “small diameter bombs”, precision-guided bombs with a small diameter, would also be part of the package, the portal writes.

These have a range of 160 kilometers.

However, the ATACMS, short-range ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers, desired by Kyiv would not be delivered.

The White House still has to approve the Pentagon's package, writes the portal.

The New York Times, meanwhile, reports on considerations in the Biden administration to support Kiev's request to attack Russian positions in Crimea.

The United States has always described Russia's annexation of the peninsula in 2014 as illegal under international law and has emphasized that Crimea is Ukrainian.

However, after the war of aggression began in February last year, President Joe Biden refused to supply Kyiv with weapons that Ukrainian forces could use to target Russian positions on the peninsula.

Biden hesitates on missile deliveries

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in December last year that the Biden administration's goal was to help Ukraine regain territory that had been occupied since February 2022.

In the meantime, this position seems to be softening.

A first step has been taken with the Bradley infantry fighting vehicle and the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.

However, Biden continues to be reluctant to provide Kyiv with longer-range missiles because he does not rule out the Ukrainian armed forces firing them at Russia.

The background to the considerations in Washington to enable Kyiv to attack Russian positions in Crimea is not the assumption that Ukraine can take Crimea militarily.

However, government officials have now come to the conclusion that Russia must consider Crimea endangered.

Attacks on Crimea would show Moscow that it does not control the peninsula.

This would strengthen Kiev's negotiating position in future talks.

Moreover, attacks on the defensive lines would undermine Moscow's ability to advance elsewhere.

Apparently, fears have also receded in Washington that Putin could use attacks on Crimea as an opportunity to use tactical nuclear weapons.