WASHINGTON

- Two days of meetings - in which about 50 countries participated at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany - were not enough to resolve a decision on providing advanced Western tanks to Ukraine.

Ukraine is calling on its Western allies - especially Germany and the United States - to give it advanced tanks.

Referring to the German "Leopard 2" and the American "M Abrams", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his country's early receipt of Western tank supplies is a priority to face an expected Russian attack with the onset of spring.

Ukraine received more than $100 billion in military and economic aid;

The United States contributed more than 50 billion dollars, and Europe's share amounted to more than 40 billion dollars.

Despite the agreement of Western capitals to increase their military support to Ukraine, Germany and the United States are reluctant to deliver advanced Western tanks to Ukraine.

In recent days, German officials have said that they will not send their Leopard II tanks to Ukraine, or allow any other country that has German-made tanks in their inventory to do so, unless the United States also agrees to send its M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, which is Something the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) said months ago that it does not intend to do, given the logistical costs of maintaining the Abrams tanks.

The tank spat comes amid a much larger debate between the United States and its European allies over sending increasingly advanced weapons to Ukraine, including long-range missiles that would allow Ukraine to strike targets 200 miles (321 kilometers) away.

Washington and Berlin fear that supplying advanced tanks to Kiev could lead to an escalation of hostilities with Moscow, which has already accused the West of waging a "proxy war" against Russia in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeated his warnings that additional Western weapons only prolong Ukraine's suffering, and said that deepening Western military aid risked entering an "upward spiral" into direct conflict between Russian and NATO forces.

The importance of tanks

Ukrainian military leaders say they need 300 tanks to break through Russian defences.

Some American experts point out that Ukraine already has hundreds of tanks at its disposal, and over the past year it has captured hundreds of Russian tanks on the battlefield and added those tanks to its stockpile.

The former commander-in-chief of US forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, tweeted, "The Ukrainians know that the decisive confrontation will be in the Crimea, and if Western tanks arrive, Ukraine can create an armored brigade that will serve as a spearhead for forces penetrating the Russian defenses in Mariupol to continue isolating Crimea."

"The Ukrainians know that the decisive territory is Crimea."

With tanks from the West, Ukraine could create an armored brigade to serve as "the spearhead of a force to break through Russian defenses towards Mariupol to continue the isolation of Crimea." https://t.co/czOQrcpREy

— Ben Hodges (@general_ben) January 22, 2023

The German government linked its approval of sending "Leopard 2" tanks to Ukraine to the United States' acceptance to also send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, and Chancellor Olaf Schultz insists that Germany will only act in coordination with the allies, especially the United States.

Germany and America

According to US reports, Germany is trying to pressure the United States to send the M1 Abrams to Ukraine, while US officials insist that German pressure will not succeed.

At the same time, press reports stated that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley refused to send tanks to Kyiv.

Austin and Milley justified this refusal by the time it takes to train personnel to operate the tanks, and how difficult it is to maintain the tanks, and they also argued that the M1 Abrams is not the appropriate tank to fight in Ukraine at the present time.

Ukrainian media:

Waiting for the Western tanks to arrive... We spend our time with enemy tanks.

pic.twitter.com/gQyTSlIsj7

- Visions for War Studies (@Roaastudies) January 19, 2023

Reports indicate that US President Joe Biden will not pressure Germany to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

By contrast, Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul has expressed his unwavering support for sending advanced American tanks into Ukraine.

In an interview with the American "CNN" network, McCall said, "The Biden administration should send M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, so that Germany can send its tanks as well."

European enthusiasm

On the other hand, the United Kingdom, Poland, Finland and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are pressuring NATO members to provide heavier equipment to Kiev, as these countries believe that the current stage constitutes a major turning point in the Ukraine war.

It appears that both Ukraine and Russia are preparing for new offensives, and there are signs that Moscow may be preparing to mobilize additional forces.

Poland, Finland and the Baltic states gave the green light to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and Germany did not object to this step.

At the same time, Britain announced that it would supply Ukraine with 14 Challenger 2 tanks, making it the first among Western countries to take this step by sending Western-made tanks to Kyiv.

further disagreement

The debate between the allies about supplying Ukraine with Western tanks reflects their differing positions on the extent to which Ukraine should be armed, especially when it comes to long-range missiles, which is a larger disagreement about the risks of escalation between NATO and Russia.

Until now, the United States has refused to send long-range missiles to Ukraine for fear that they could be used to attack targets inside Russia.

While some British officials have expressed openness to the idea of ​​providing long-range systems to Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg entered the discussion, calling on the allies to provide Kiev with heavier and more modern weapons.