President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has again pleaded with Ukraine’s allies to accelerate deliveries of modern heavy weapons, including tanks, as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged his Western counterparts to “dig deeper” to help Kyiv’s forces stave off Russia’s offensive in the east, where heavy fighting continues.
Addressing a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein U.S. Air Base in Germany by video link, Zelenskiy said on January 20 that the allied partners needed “not to bargain about different numbers of tanks, but to open that principal supply that will stop evil.”
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The gathering, the latest in a series of weapons-pledging meetings since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, comes as Germany faces growing pressure to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or at least give permission to other allies to deliver the German-made tanks from their own stock.
Zelenskiy told the gathering that “terror does not allow for discussion,” adding that “the war started by Russia does not allow delays.”
Austin told the meeting that Ukraine is racing against time in the face or Russia’s onslaught and Western help for Kyiv must come faster.
“Russia is regrouping, recruiting, and trying to re-equip,” Austin said at the start of the meeting.
“This is not a moment to slow down. It’s a time to dig deeper. The Ukrainian people are watching us,” he said.
Austin and General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are discussing with the allies the latest $2.5 billion worth of U.S. military aid for Ukraine announced by the Pentagon on January 19 that includes Stryker armored vehicles for the first time but no tanks.
Zelenskiy on January 19 addressed Germany’s leaders directly in an interview with public broadcaster ARD, saying: “In plain language, can you deliver Leopards or not? Then hand them over!”
Washington has declined for the time being to provide its own M1 Abrams tanks, arguing that the high-tech U.S. tank needs extensive and complex maintenance and poses huge logistical challenges.
The United States said it would be more productive to send Leopards that many allied militaries are already using.
Ukrainian forces, the Americans argue, would only have to get trained on the Leopard, and avoid the longer and more difficult training for the Abrams.
Austin met with Germany’s newly appointed defense minister, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin ahead of the January 20 meeting. It wasn’t clear whether the tank issue was discussed during the meeting.
But Pistorius told ARD he was “pretty sure we will get a decision on this [tank issue] in the coming days, but I can’t yet tell you today how it will look.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz so far held out against sending Leopard tanks over concern that it could provoke Moscow, which has warned against an “extremely dangerous” escalation if the West sends longer-range weapons to Kyiv.
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, took issue with Germany’s approach.
“True leadership is about leading by example, not about looking up to others. There are no taboos,” Podolyak said on Twitter. “From Washington to London, from Paris to Warsaw, you hear one thing: Ukraine needs tanks. Tanks — the key to end the war properly. Time to stop trembling at [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and take the final step.”
Britain last week said it will send Ukraine Challenger 2 tanks.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told a briefing on January 19 that the Leopard and Challenger aren’t comparable to the Abrams because the Abrams is much harder to maintain.
“It’s more of a sustainment issue. I mean, this is a tank that requires jet fuel, whereas the Leopard and the Challenger, it’s a different engine.” The Leopard and Challenger are “a little bit easier to maintain,” Singh said.
The latest U.S. aid package for Ukraine announced by the Pentagon includes eight Avenger air-defense systems, 350 Humvees, 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, more than 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and rockets, and missiles for the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Several Western allies have said they support sending modern heavy weaponry to Ukraine, including tanks.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said on January 20 that Poland is ready to take “nonstandard” action if Germany opposes sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
WATCH: The authorities said 14 people were killed, including one child, along with the Ukrainian interior minister and other officials flying in the helicopter. Many children were injured.
In an interview with Polish radio, Jablonski was asked if supplying tanks to Ukraine would be possible even despite German opposition. Jablonski answered, “I think that if there is strong resistance, we will be ready to take even such nonstandard action…. But let’s not anticipate the facts.”
On January 19, representatives of nine countries, meanwhile, said in a joint statement they “commit to collectively pursuing delivery of an unprecedented set of donations including main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defense, ammunition, and infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine’s defense.”
The joint statement followed a meeting in Tallinn of the defense minister of Britain, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania, and representatives from Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Slovakia.
Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Ukrainian military said in its daily update on the battlefield situation on January 20 that the Ukrainian military repelled a total of 16 attacks by Russian forces in three regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya — over the past 24 hours.
The General Staff said Russian forces continued to concentrate their firepower on Bakhmut and Avdiyivka in Donetsk, where Ukrainian troops have been fighting pitched battles for months.
