The Biden administration will speed up delivery of the US’s M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine by nine months, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s forces now expected to receive them by autumn, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration will speed up delivery of the US’s M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine by nine months, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s forces now expected to receive them by autumn, people familiar with the matter said.
The people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said the Pentagon was set to announce the accelerated timetable later Tuesday. The move underscores the urgency the US and its allies feel in their support of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s sustained missile and artillery barrages.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told MSNBC on Tuesday that the Pentagon would have more to say soon about a revised timetable “to see if we can get Abrams tanks to Ukraine a little bit faster than previously expected.”
“There’s some some changes that you can make to the process to sort of speed that up,” Kirby said.
After initially refusing to do so, the US announced in January it would send Ukraine 31 of its M1 Abrams battle tanks. The move was made to clear the way for Germany to supply some of its tanks even sooner to give Ukraine a major new capability as it tries to pry Russian forces from the east.
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