Immediately the tanks to hit the tyrant. Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, closes the day full of “excellent news”. The United States and Germany have announced the sending of Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks: in the space of a few weeks Kiev will have new weapons available in the war against Russia and will be able to prepare for the spring, when – according to the scenarios that emerge – the conflict will enter a new crucial phase. Zelensky, in the usual message on Telegram, exults in the creation of a “coalition of tanks”. In addition to Germany and the USA, in fact, other countries will send tanks: these are the nations that bought the German-made Leopards and that received the go-ahead from Berlin to transfer the vehicles to Ukraine. “There is a decision to start supplying tanks for our defense – modern tanks. I thank all our allies for their willingness to provide us with absolutely necessary modern tanks,” says Zelensky.
“All of this demonstrates the most important fact for the world right now: freedom is getting stronger. And the way we all work together to strengthen freedom, to defend Ukraine and Europe, is a historic achievement by the leaders who are working now. The key thing now is speed and quantity. The training speed of our military, the speed of supplying tanks to Ukraine and the quantity of tanks”, says the Ukrainian president, convinced that the new supplies will allow Kiev to implement the turning point in the conflict.
“We have to strike a blow that will not allow tyranny to rear its head again. We can do it. Together, just as we make decisions today. I am grateful for the touching words of support I have heard from so many different people. We all have one desire in common: victory. We are doing everything for the victory of Ukraine. And it will happen,” concludes Zelensky.
EVEN FIGHTERS ON KIEV’S ‘WISH LIST’ – Ukraine’s “wish list” for Western-supplied weapons also includes fighter jets. This was confirmed today to CNN by Kiev Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. “Last year I sent Santa Claus a wish list card, and fighter jets were also on this list,” Reznikov said, adding however that his government’s priority is air defense systems. to prevent Russia from conducting air and missile strikes.
“We have to close our sky, defend our sky – said the minister – This is the number one priority. After that, we have to get more armored vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), etc. , etc. We have the people, but we need weapons”. Quoting Winston Churchill, he concluded: “Give us the tools, we will finish the job.”
USA: “TRAINING IN WEEKS, NOT MONTHS” – Training of Ukrainians for M1 Abrams tanks could begin in “weeks, not months”. According to John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, the decision to supply Ukraine with advanced Western tank systems was both a diplomatic and military effort that had been “in preparation for several weeks”.
“There was a lot of diplomacy – Kirby told CNN – in today’s announcement. The decision that you saw today, both from Germany and from the United States, came through many, many discussions with the Germans and with the our allies for several weeks”.
Kirby also said it will likely take the Pentagon “weeks, not months” to finalize a tank training plan. “How long will it take? the training regime in place,” the spokesperson said.
When asked if the United States also intends to meet Ukrainian requests to supply Kiev with fighter jets, Kirby did not go into detail, merely saying: “We are in constant discussions with the Ukrainians about their capabilities and, as I said, they evolve in based on changing conditions. I can’t blame the Ukrainians for wanting more and more systems. It’s not the first time they’ve talked about hunting, but I have no announcements to make on that front.”