US, Germany head for Leopard tanks showdown

Ukraine pleaded on Thursday for the West to finally send it heavy tanks as the US and German defence chiefs headed for a showdown over weapons Kyiv says could decide the fate of the war.

US defence secretary Lloyd Austin was in Germany on Thursday to meet new defence minister Boris Pistorius, shortly after Pistorius was sworn into office.

On Friday, they will convene dozens of allies to pledge weapons for Ukraine at the US Ramstein Air Base, a meeting billed as a chance to provide the arms to shift the war’s momentum in 2023.

Military aid worth billions of dollars is expected, but the meeting is likely to be judged a failure unless it produces a major commitment of heavy tanks, which Kyiv says it needs to fend off Russian assaults and recapture occupied territory.

“We have no time, the world does not have this time,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday.

“The question of tanks for Ukraine must be closed as soon as possible,” he said. “We are paying for the slowness with the lives of our Ukrainian people. It shouldn’t be like that.”

A big pledge of tanks will require resolving a stand-off between Washington and Berlin, which has so far blocked allies from sending its Leopard 2 tanks, the workhorse of European armies.

Washington and many Western allies say the Leopards — which Germany made in the thousands during the Cold War and exported to its allies — are the only suitable option available in sufficient numbers.

A German government source said Berlin would lift its objections if Washington sends its own Abrams tanks. But US officials say the Abrams is inappropriate for Ukraine as it runs on turbine engines that use too much fuel for Kyiv’s strained logistics to keep them fuelled at the front.

Poland and Finland have said they would send Leopards if Germany lifts its veto. Other countries have indicated they are ready to do so too. Britain added to the pressure, offering a squadron from its fleet of Challengers, though far fewer of these are available than Leopards.

Germany has been reluctant to send offensive weapons that may be seen as escalating the conflict. Many of its Western allies say that concern is misplaced, with Russia showing no sign of ending its onslaught against Ukraine.

Top Pentagon policy adviser Colin Kahl said on Wednesday that Abrams tanks are not likely to be included in Washington’s next massive $2bn military aid package, which will be headlined by Stryker and Bradley armoured vehicles.

Not there yet

“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” Kahl said. “The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive. It’s hard to train on. It has a jet engine.”

Germany has said the tank decision is the first item on the agenda of Pistorius, who replaced Christine Lambrecht who quit as defence minister this week. At his swearing-in ceremony, Pistorius pledged to support Ukraine, including with military hardware, but gave no specifics.

“These are not normal times, we have a war raging in Europe. Russia is waging a brutal war of annihilation on a sovereign country, on Ukraine,” he said.

Ukraine, which has relied primarily on Soviet-era T-72 tank variants, says the new tanks will give its troops the mobile firepower to drive out Russian troops in decisive battles.

Western tanks have more effective armour and better guns than Soviet-era counterparts, destroyed in their hundreds on both sides during the 11 months of war in Ukraine.

Fighting has been concentrated in the south and east of Ukraine, after Russia’s initial assault from the north aimed at taking Kyiv was thwarted during the first months of Russia’s “special military operation”.

After big Ukrainian gains in the second half of 2022, the frontlines have largely been frozen in place over the past two months, with neither side making big gains despite heavy casualties in intense trench warfare.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of Russian mercenary force Wagner which has taken a leading role in fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, claimed on Thursday his forces seized the village of Klishchiivka on Bakhmut’s outskirts. Kyiv previously denied that the settlement has fallen. Reuters could not confirm the situation there.

Prigozhin, who recruits convicts from Russian prisons with promises of pardons for his private force outside the regular military command, complained last week that top brass did not give his fighters enough credit.

Reuters