The United States agreed on Thursday on sending $2.5 billion in weapons to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Europe disagrees on main-battle tanks.
As the fight in Ukraine ignites again in the Donbass, the United States and the West scramble to get more firepower to the war-torn nation. Another $2.5 billion package in weapons and military equipment has been sent to Ukraine by the Pentagon.
The new package focuses especially on armored vehicles, in particular Strykers and Bradleys.
These two kinds of vehicles serve different purposes on the battleground. Bradleys are heavily armored and mounted with a cannon and an anti-tank missile launcher, therefore they are needed for brute firepower. Strykers are lighter and with a thinner cover, but are faster and equipped with wheels, so they can cover much more ground. Strykers are used to get the infantry on the front quickly rather than engage in combat with the enemy.
In addition to hundreds of Bradleys and Strykers, the new package includes ammunition for the American equipment already present in Ukraine. In particular, new rockets for HIMARS and NASAMS, as well as millions of small-arms ammunition.
This package follows another support measure from December, when the United States agreed on sending Patriot missiles to Kyiv. Patriots are a heavily developed anti-air system which should improve Ukrainian defenses against Russian strikes.
So far, the United States has sent $26,7 billion in military support to Ukraine. While Kyiv is currently bogged down in Bakhmut, with the Russian invaders slowly but surely advancing, this kind of support is heavily needed.
The diplomatic battle over tanks
Crucially, none of the American packages include the lease to Ukraine of tanks, at least not main-battle ones. The United States have refrained from sending Abrams tanks, providing that their fuel system is too developed and costly for Ukraine.
But the US is not the only nation to not trust Ukraine with their tanks. Indeed, until recently, no Western country had sent main-battle armored vehicles to Kyiv.
The first to break the taboo was the United Kingdom, which sent 14 of its modern and efficient Challenger tanks to Ukraine. France, on its part, only recently decided to send its light AMC 10-RC tanks.
Germany, as always, is the European country that drags its feet the most. As always since the start of the war, Germany seems afraid of angering Russia, as if the situation could be worse than what it is.
Their main-battle tanks, the Leopard, have been exported anywhere in the European Union, including in Eastern European countries like Poland.
While Germany will likely wait to send Leopards on their own, they must give the green light for other countries to send them. Despite wide European pressure, Germany has not done it yet, though it is likely the final decision will come next week.
Hopefully Ukraine will make good use of the new defensive systems coming from the West, waiting to use tanks in a possible future counter-offensive.
