by Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States plans to expedite delivery of Abrams heavy assault tanks to Ukraine, a U.S. Defense Department official said on Tuesday, to deliver these by next fall. vehicles considered vital by Kyiv to deal with Russia’s offensive.
Washington made a reversal in January by announcing the dispatch of 31 Abrams M1A2 advanced tanks, after having rejected this hypothesis for months, responding to a request from Kyiv and Western allies.
Representatives of US President Joe Biden’s administration and a source familiar with the matter had previously informed Reuters of a change in the delivery schedule.
The United States now wants to deliver Abrams M1A1 SA tanks, which run on diesel, like the majority of Ukraine’s fleet, one of the representatives said. Delivery will be sped up by about a year, according to a parliamentary aide familiar with the matter.
Speaking to reporters, the Pentagon spokesman said it was decided, “in close coordination with Ukraine, to supply the M1A1 variant of the Abrams tank, which will allow us to significantly shorten the lead times delivery”, to deliver the vehicles by next fall.
Until then, the US Department of Defense had not given any details on the delivery schedule for the Abrams tanks, only saying that it would take “months”.
(Report Mike Stone; French version Jean Terzian)
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