The President clarified that he does not know the real terms of the supply of tanks from the West and the EU.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called on the West and the EU to speed up the supply of tanks for the war with the Russian Federation.
In an interview with Sky News, the guarantor of Ukraine asked the partners to shorten the interval between making decisions on the supply of tanks and their actual transfer to Ukraine.
“The number of tanks and the time when they can reach us play an integral and overriding role compared to what and when the decision was made,” he said.
Zelensky noted that part of the weapons that the partners promised to deliver are already in Ukraine. But the part still hasn’t arrived. In this context, he mentioned the timing of the delivery of the Abrams by the US, noting that they may arrive too late.
“It’s too late. But I don’t know the real situation at the moment, when they should be, when America will give us Abrams. And I don’t really know when the tanks from Europe will arrive,” said the Ukrainian president.
Zelenskyi also mentioned the decision of the head of France to transfer tanks to Ukraine two weeks ago. As the president of a warring country, he does not have time to wait that long, the Ukrainian leader said.
Supply of Western tanks to Ukraine
On January 25, 2023, US President Joe Biden officially announced the delivery of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. One tank battalion will be formed from them. The delivery of the tanks will take several months.
Later, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said that the US would not be able to deliver Abrams tanks to Ukraine before the expected offensive in the spring.
At the same time, the mass media write that in the West there are logistical difficulties with the transfer of Leopard 2 and Challenger tanks to Ukraine due to the various material and technical base of the machines. British Challenger 2 tanks use ammunition that differs from NATO standards.
