US to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine: American official

By Kasim Ileri and Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden is likely to announce plans to send M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine "as early as tomorrow," a US official confirmed to Anadolu on Tuesday.

The official said the announcement will include "a battalion size number of tanks” that would comprise roughly 30-50 tanks.

Earlier in the day, multiple US media outlets reported that the Biden administration was inching towards sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine after its leaders called on the West for additional arms to help it defend against Russia's war.

The possible decision to send what the reports called a "significant number" of tanks to Kyiv comes as Washington and Berlin continue to grapple over the provision of tanks to Ukraine.

Germany has faced mounting pressure to provide its Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine's military, particularly after the UK agreed to send 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks.

Ukraine welcomed the UK's decision to send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks but said that it was not enough to meet its battlefield needs, appealing in particular to countries with Leopard 2 tanks to send them.

While Germany has so far balked at sending its tanks to Ukraine, it has said that it would not prevent Poland from doing so if it chooses. Countries that have purchased the tanks from Germany must receive a sign-off from Berlin if they are to re-export them.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told US lawmakers last week that his government would not approve of sending the Leopard 2's to Ukraine unless the US donated its own tanks first, according to the Politico news website.