The Western allies will deliver combat equipment to Ukraine, but currently do not plan to hand over the tanks it has requested, writes Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on the 4th of January, after a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, that France will deliver AMX-10 RC armored vehicles to help in the fight against the occupiers. Australia has already delivered 90 Bushmaster armored vehicles to Kyiv, specially designed to be mine-resistant.
US President Joe Biden informed that Washington is considering placing Bradley armored vehicles at the disposal of Ukraine. The Bradley is an armored vehicle equipped with powerful weapons, and since the mid-1980s it has been one of America’s main means of transportation on the battlefield. The US Army has several thousand of these armored vehicles.
However, Biden’s offer does not fulfill the request that Ukraine has repeatedly asked its western allies to supply heavier military equipment, such as the US-made Abram tanks or the German Leopard.
In a speech on the evening of the 4th of January, Zelenskiy thanked Macron and said that it also sheds light on the need for heavier combat equipment from the allies.
«This is something that sends a clear signal to all our partners. There is no rational reason why Ukraine has not yet been supplied with Western tanks,»
Zelensky said.
The US is preparing a new military aid package, scheduled to be officially announced in the coming days, on top of about 21,3 billion dollars in aid already provided. When Zelenskiy visited the United States in December, Biden indicated that the United States had committed to sending the powerful Patriot missile system to Ukraine, which will help repel attacks by Russian missiles and drones.
Kirill Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate, told ABC News that he expects more and further strikes in Russia, but did not say whether they would be carried out by the Ukrainian military. He added that he was glad to see the strike on Engels Air Force Base in Russia. Asked about the attacks on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, Budanov said:
«Crimea is part of Ukraine, it’s part of our territory. We can use any weapon on our territory.»
Meanwhile, as a signal to the West that he is not going to back down, Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a Russian frigate to the Atlantic Ocean equipped with the latest generation of supersonic missiles, which can travel five times the speed of sound.
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