Washington stressed that Berlin’s attempt to cut off the supply of American Abrams tanks will not work.

The US is “disappointed” by Germany’s indecision to provide Ukraine with the much-needed Leopard 2 tanks.

This was stated by a high-ranking American official at a briefing, Sky News reports. He noted that the US does not know how the issue with German-made tanks will be resolved.

The publication’s source reported that Berlin tried to put the United States “in a deadlock from the supply of American Abrams tanks, but it will not work.”

“The U.S. will not give Ukraine expensive, difficult-to-maintain tanks that, according to Biden administration officials, Ukrainians do not need to achieve their goal, just to give another country cover for its own internal decisions,” the publication’s interlocutors added.

The official said at the briefing that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and General Mark Milley do not believe the Abrams “will be of net benefit to the Ukrainians, given the complexity of their operation and maintenance.” Austin and Milley emphasized that the US is “not shying away” from providing its own tanks due to fears of an alleged possible escalation.

Provision of tanks to Ukraine – what is known

As reported, earlier in a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed the position that Germany could agree to transfer Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. However, Berlin wants Washington to transfer Abrams first.

However, the new Minister of Defense of Germany, Boris Pistorius, said that the delivery of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine should not be tied to the transfer of American M1 Abrams tanks by the United States.

Meanwhile, Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh explained why the US is not handing over M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. According to her, today providing our country with these weapons “simply makes no sense.” She also commented on the German side’s statement that Germany will not provide tanks to Ukraine until the USA does so.

Today, January 20, during the meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine (the so-called “Ramstein-8”), the Western allies could not unanimously decide on the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also admitted that he did not know whether will his country allow the Poles to transfer Leopard 2 to Kyiv. This decision will be made by Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz.

US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin called on the participants of the Ramstein-8 meeting not to slow down the pace of support for Ukraine. He stated that Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip its troops.

At the same time, Austin announced after the meeting that there was no decision to provide Ukraine with German Leopard main battle tanks and American M1 Abrams tanks. At the same time, the US Defense Minister noted that the focus is now on providing Ukraine with the opportunities it needs for success right now.