WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the first US Abrams tanks will be sent to Ukraine “next week,”. “The first Abrams tanks will be sent to Ukraine in next week,” President Biden said at the White House, alongside President Zelensky, who is on his 2nd trip to the US since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Zelensky visits White House
The US President also said he had also “approved the next tranche of security help for Kyiv,” which the US Defense Department later valued at $325 million.
The package includes ammunition for HIMARS rocket launchers, air defense missiles, anti-tank arms, and artillery shells. The US had pledged the 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine at the start of the year.
AFP reported that the decision to give Abrams tanks to Kyiv represented a U-turn as the US defense officials had said several times that the tanks were ill-suited for Ukraine’s forces due to their complications.
Joe Biden said there was “no alternative” to the US Congress supporting new military help for Kyiv to fight Russia after Republican legislators threatened to block a new package.
President Zelensky won pledges of generous support and air defense weapons from Biden on Thursday, but he also warned that Moscow could still defeat Kyiv if Republican legislators cut US military help.
Biden told Zelensky that he would “ensure the globe stands with you” against Moscow’s invasion.
President Zelensky, on a tour to Washington to seek additional military aid, told the US President in the Oval Office that the people of Ukraine “greatly appreciate the help provided by the US to combat Russian.”
