WASHINGTON: The US will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine, senior administration officials said Wednesday, reversing months of persistent arguments by the Biden administration that the tanks were too difficult for Ukrainian troops to operate and maintain.
The US decision came on the heels of Germany agreeing to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks. Germany had said the Leopards would not be sent unless the US put its Abrams on the table, not wanting to incur Russia’s wrath without the US similarly committing its own tanks.
Since then, both sides had participated in “good diplomatic conversations” that had made the difference and were part of the “extraordinary shift in Germany’s security policy” over providing weapons to Ukraine since Russia invaded 11 months ago, said a senior administration official, who briefed reporters Wednesday on the condition of anonymity to describe the new tank package in advance of the announcement.
The $400 million package announced Wednesday also includes eight M88 recovery vehicles — tank-like tracked vehicles that can tow the Abrams if it gets stuck.
Altogether, France, the UK, the US, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden will send hundreds of tanks and heavy armored vehicles to fortify Ukraine as it enters a new phase of the war and attempts to break through entrenched Russian lines.
But there were few answers about what US tanks would be sent — whether they would be pulled from the existing stockpile of more than 4,000 Abrams and retrofitted, or whether the US would use the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to buy new systems to possibly backfill allies who send their own or buy new systems outright for Ukraine.
Either way, using the assistance initiative funding route means that while Abrams have now been promised to Ukraine, it will likely be many months before the tanks are actually on the battlefield, and not in time for Russia’s anticipated Spring offensive.
Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev on Wednesday called Berlin’s decision to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine “extremely dangerous.”
Nechayev said in an online statement that the move “shifts the conflict to a new level of confrontation and contradicts the statements of German politicians about their reluctance to get involved in it.”
“We’re seeing yet again that Germany, as well as its closest allies, is not interested in a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine crisis, it is determined to permanently escalate it and to indefinitely pump the Kyiv regime full of new lethal weapons,” the statement read.
Until now, the US has resisted providing its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, citing extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges with the high-tech vehicles. Washington believes it would be more productive to send German Leopards since many allies have them and Ukrainian troops would need less training than on the more difficult Abrams.
Just last week, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters that the Abrams is a complicated, expensive, difficult to maintain and hard to train on piece of equipment. One thing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been very focused on, he said, “is that we should not be providing the Ukrainians systems they can’t repair, they can’t sustain, and that they, over the long term, can’t afford, because it’s not helpful.”
For the Abrams to be effective in Ukraine, its forces will require extensive training on combined arms manuevuer — how the tanks operate together on the battlefield, and on how to maintain and support the complex, 70-ton weapon. The Abrams tanks use a turbine jet engine to propel themselves that burns through at least two gallons a mile regardless of whether they are moving or idling, which means that a network of fuel trucks is needed to keep the line moving.
Despite concerns, US to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine
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Despite concerns, US to send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine
- The US decision came on the heels of Germany agreeing to send 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its own stocks
- The $400 million package announced Wednesday also includes eight M88 recovery vehicles
Even with Lebanon truce deal, Israel will operate against Hezbollah: Netanyahu
- Netanyahu also said there was no evidence that Hezbollah would respect any ceasefire reached
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel will continue to operate militarily against the Iran-backed Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah even if a ceasefire deal is reached in Lebanon.
“The most important thing is not (the deal that) will be laid on paper,” Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament.
“We will be forced to ensure our security in the north (of Israel) and to systematically carry out operations against Hezbollah’s attacks... even after a ceasefire,” to keep the group from rebuilding, he said.
Netanyahu also said there was no evidence that Hezbollah would respect any ceasefire reached.
“We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the state it was in on October 6” 2023, the eve of the strike by its Palestinian ally Hamas into southern Israel, he said.
Hezbollah then began firing into northern Israel in support of Hamas, triggering exchanges with Israel that escalated into full-on war in late September this year.
Lebanon’s government has largely endorsed a US truce proposal to end the Israel-Hezbollah war and was preparing final comments before responding to Washington, a Lebanese official told AFP on Monday.
Israel insists that any truce deal must guarantee no further Hezbollah presence in the area bordering Israel.
Members of UN Security Council call for surge in assistance to Gaza
- “The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it’s getting worse, not better,” Lammy said
NEW YORK: Members of the United Nations Security Council called on Monday for a surge in assistance to reach people in need in Israeli-basieged Gaza, warning that the situation in the Palestinian enclave was getting worse.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said there needs to be a “huge, huge rise in aid” to Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and health officials in the coastal enclave say that more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s 13-month-old offensive against Hamas.
“The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it’s getting worse, not better,” Lammy said. “Winter’s here. Famine is imminent, and 400 days into this war, it is totally unacceptable that it’s harder than ever to get aid into Gaza.”
The war erupted after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Washington was closely watching Israel’s actions to improve the situation for Palestinians and engaging with the Israeli government every day.
“Israel must also urgently take additional steps to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” she said.
President Joe Biden’s administration concluded this month that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore not violating US law, even as Washington acknowledged the humanitarian situation remained dire in the Palestinian enclave.
The assessment came after the US in an Oct. 13 letter gave Israel a list of steps to take within 30 days to address the deteriorating situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so might have possible consequences on US military aid to Israel.
Thomas-Greenfield said Israel was working to implement 12 of the 15 steps.
“We need to see all steps fully implemented and sustained, and we need to see concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation on the ground,” she said, including Israel allowing commercial trucks to move into Gaza alongside humanitarian assistance, addressing persistent lawlessness and implementing pauses in fighting in large areas of Gaza to allow assistance to reach those in need.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the US, said Israel had facilitated the entrance of hundreds of aid trucks a week but there had been a failure of aid agencies to collect that aid and Hamas had looted trucks. Hamas has denied the accusation.
“Not only must the UN step up its aid distribution obligations, but the focus must also shift to Hamas’ constant hijacking of humanitarian aid to feed the machine of terror and misery,” Danon said.
Two UN aid agencies told Reuters on Monday that nearly 100 trucks carrying food for Palestinians were violently looted on Nov. 16 after entering Gaza in one of the worst losses of aid during the war.
Tor Wennesland, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said humanitarian agencies face a challenging and dangerous operational environment in Gaza and access restrictions that hinder their work.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law,” Wennesland said.
“The current conditions are among the worst we’ve seen during the entire war and are not set to improve.”
EU top diplomat has ‘no more words’ on Mideast suffering
- Borrell said a majority of the 27 European Union states had — as expected — rejected his call to suspend political dialogue with Israel over the Gaza war
BRUSSELS: The EU’s outgoing top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday he had “no more words” to describe the crisis in the Middle East as he delivered a bleak assessment at his swansong foreign ministers’ meeting.
At a somber press briefing after the Brussels talks, Borrell said a majority of the 27 European Union states had — as expected — rejected his call to suspend political dialogue with Israel over the Gaza war.
Barely concealing his frustration at the EU’s failure to weigh on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict during his five-year mandate, Borrell earlier said he had “exhausted the words to explain what’s happening.”
“This is a war against the children,” the 77-year-old foreign policy chief told reporters after the talks. “The most frequent age of the casualties in Gaza is five years old.”
He described an “apocalyptical situation in Gaza, where 70 percent of the death toll is being paid by children and women,” with two million people displaced. He also acknowledged the suffering of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says that 43,922 people, mostly civilians, have been killed there since October 7.
Borrell’s proposal to suspend the EU’s political dialogue with Israel — part of a wider agreement governing trade ties — had been expected to hit opposition from numerous member states including key powers France and Germany.
“Most of the member states considered that it was much better to continue having diplomatic and political relationship with Israel,” Borrell confirmed.
But he said his services had “at least put on the table” all the information produced by UN bodies and international organizations on the ground “in order to judge the way the war is being waged.”
Since Israel unleashed its devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza, EU states have been deeply divided over the conflict — with Borrell often an outlier in denouncing what he views as Israel’s excesses.
On Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Borrell likewise voiced frustration at the shortcomings in Europe’s response as the conflict reaches its 1,000th day.
“It’s not only 1,000 days. It is 4,000 days since Putin attacked Ukraine the first time,” Borrell said.
“Maybe our response should have been firmer, stronger since the beginning,” he said.
“It’s clear that each step that is being left without reaction encourages Russia to escalate further,” he warned — pointing at Russia’s use of drones from Iran, weapons and troops from North Korea, and dual-use goods from China.
Moscow’s all-out assault in February 2022 upended European security and came to dominate Borrell’s time at the helm of the bloc’s diplomacy.
Since then the EU has spent billions of dollars on arming Ukraine and Russia has been hit by repeated sanctions despite regular obstacles from reluctant EU states such as Hungary.
But Borrell leaves the stage at a perilous time — with the re-election of Donald Trump in the United States heralding challenges for Europe and Russia advancing in Ukraine.
“If we want to be a geopolitical player, if we want to use the language of power, we have to be more united,” warned Borrell, who is to hand over to former Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas in December.
“It’s time for Europe to take their strategic responsibilities,” Borrell said. “It’s time for Europe to step up.”
What We Are Reading Today: ‘When the Bombs Stopped’ by Erin Lin
Over the course of the Vietnam War, the United States dropped 500,000 tonnes of bombs over Cambodia—more than the combined weight of every man, woman, and child in the country.
What began as a secret CIA infiltration of Laos eventually expanded into Cambodia and escalated into a nine-year war over the Ho Chi Minh trail fought primarily with bombs.
Fifty years after the last sortie, residents of rural Cambodia are still coping with the unexploded ordnance that covers their land. In “When the Bombs Stopped,” Erin Lin investigates the consequences of the US bombing campaign across post conflict Cambodia.
Saudi Arabia calls for peace, addresses global challenges at opening of G20 Summit
- Prince Faisal bin Farhan leads Kingdom’s delegation on behalf of crown prince
RIO DE JANEIRO: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan led the Kingdom’s delegation at the first session of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which opened on Monday.
Prince Faisal, who is leading the delegation on behalf of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, spoke at the summit’s opening session which was called “Social Inclusion and Combating Hunger and Poverty.”
Prince Faisal highlighted pressing global challenges, noting that increasing tensions, military conflicts, and humanitarian crises were significant obstacles to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, adding: “Development and prosperity cannot be achieved on the ruins of death and destruction.”
Moving on to the ongoing crises in the Middle East, Prince Faisal pointed to Israeli military actions in Gaza and Lebanon, describing them as sources of severe human suffering and catalysts which were pushing the region toward broader conflict.
He said: “The ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza and Lebanon has caused unprecedented levels of human suffering; is pushing the region to the brink of a wider war … and is undermining the credibility of international law and institutions.”
Prince Faisal reiterated Saudi Arabia’s commitment to peace, stating the Kingdom’s unwavering stance on the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza; unrestricted access to humanitarian assistance; the release of hostages; and a serious commitment to lasting peace based on the two-state solution according to the 1967 borders, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The minister also addressed the situation in Sudan, expressing concern over the severe human toll due to the conflict, and obstacles preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to affected communities.
In addition to political challenges, Prince Faisal commended Brazil’s initiative in launching the International Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, which aligns with Saudi Arabia’s development and humanitarian objectives. He announced the Kingdom’s participation in the alliance, which resonates with its long-standing global efforts.
He said: “The Kingdom is pleased to be part of this alliance that is in line with its development goals and its global role in this regard, which is expressed by the programs of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (and) the Saudi Fund for Development, in addition to its global contributions to the programs of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to support developing countries.”
The Kingdom’s delegation included Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Deputy Minister of Finance (Saudi Sherpa for the G20) Abdul Mohsen bin Saad Al-Khalaf, and Ambassador to Brazil Faisal bin Ibrahim Ghulam.
The G20 Summit in Brazil serves as a platform for the world’s leading economies to address global challenges and promote collective solutions aimed at fostering sustainable development and social equity.
