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Despite German efforts to pressure the U.S. into providing Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top leaders are against sending them, three U.S. officials said.
The German government signaled it may send its own Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if the U.S. also agrees to send Ukraine the M1 Abrams, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisting Germany will only act in concert with allies.
The three U.S. officials said Berlin has tried to put the U.S. on the spot about sending Abrams tanks, and there has been frustration within the Biden administration with Germany over the back and forth. The officials insist the German pressure is not going to work.
At the same time, the officials said President Joe Biden would not pressure Germany to send the Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Asked Friday about sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Biden was noncommittal. “Ukraine is going to get all the help they need,” he said.
But both Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley have recommended against sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the three U.S. officials said.
Milley and Austin have cited how long it takes to train personnel to operate the tanks and how difficult the tanks are to maintain. They also have argued they are not the right vehicles for the fight in Ukraine right now, according to the officials.
One U.S. official said Austin has argued the training to operate and maintain the tanks would take months, and even though the Ukrainians have proven adept at learning many new platforms, he continues to resist sending the Abrams.
Two U.S. officials also noted that Ukraine already has hundreds of tanks at its disposal and over the past year has captured hundreds of Russian tanks on the battlefield and added those to its inventory.
On Friday, Pentagon press secretary Brig.
