At the end of an important meeting on Friday of the Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany – the coalition of countries that coordinates armaments for Ukraine – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the Pentagon is stepping up deliveries of M1 Abrams to Kiev.
“We have also accelerated the delivery time of the M1 Abrams to provide Ukraine with more armored capabilities in the coming months, and the M1s that the Ukrainians will use for training will arrive here in Germany in the coming weeksAustin announced during a news conference.
This follows reports earlier today that 31 Abrams tanks will soon arrive in Germany, where an additional 10-week training program will be held for Ukrainian operators. This means that the tanks could finally arrive on the battlefield by fall, according to reports. But given that Russia clearly has the upper hand in Donetsk’s key city of Bakhmut, how things will play out by then is far from certain. They may end up doing anything because peace has broken out or at least a cease-fire.
Austin also pledged, in his comments, to support Kiev as long as Ukraine fights the Russian invasion, and to review major weapons systems that have so far been provided by 54 allied countries: Another important development was announced at the end of the contact group meeting, the fourth to be held, that Germany, Poland and Ukraine have signed an agreement to establish a repair center for used Leopard II tanks in Ukraine.
Ukraine calls it a “tank coalition” that includes partner countries to send armored personnel carriers …
A meeting of the “Tank Coalition” took place.
I am grateful to my German and Polish colleagues, Boris # Pistorius And @employeefor their unwavering support of Ukraine.
Today, we signed the Letter of Intent to establish a maintenance and service center in Poland for the Leopard 2… pic.twitter.com/hrFrrUvN9m– Oleksiireznikov (@oleksiireznikov) April 21, 2023
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, “All parties have agreed on how to finance this center, which costs about 150-200 million euros ($384 million) annually and could start operating at the end of May.” However, in the meantime, any Leopard II tanks sent in were still waiting to embark on the elusive spring counterattack.
Thanks to our Telegram channel, you can stay up to date with the publication of new articles from economic scenarios.
“Infuriatingly humble social media ninja. Devoted travel junkie. Student. Avid internet lover.”
