(Seoul = Yonhap News) It seems that the West is deepening its concerns over whether to actually provide tanks to Ukraine, which needs Western main battle tanks to push the Russian army out of its territory.
Since the invasion of Russia on February 24 last year, Western countries have provided Ukraine with their old Soviet tanks, but Western main battle tanks with state-of-the-art specifications are not included in the support list.
It was because of concerns about retaliation from Russia and the possibility of escalating war to neighboring countries.
However, the New York Times (NYT) reported on the 19th (local time) that a change in this trend was detected this month.
It is said that the tone of supporting only ‘defensive weapons’ is changing, such as the United States, France, and Germany deciding to provide combat armored vehicles for the first time after the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
However, Ukraine is demanding the provision of Western-made main battle tanks.
The most notable weapon is the German-made Leopard 2 tank.
The problem is that many of the Germans, who were yawned as war criminals in World War II, oppose the provision of arms to conflict-affected countries.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said in a phone call with US President Joe Biden on the 17th that if the US does not supply M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, Germany will not support Leopard 2 tanks either.
However, it seems unlikely that the US will support the M1 tank any time soon.
The United States has maintained its position that the M1 Abrams tank is difficult to be deployed on the eastern front of Ukraine, where there is a high risk of supply disruption due to problems such as supply, maintenance, and fuel economy.
The gas turbine engine mounted on the Abrams tank is known to have seriously poor fuel economy, as it uses jet fuel and can travel only a few hundred meters on 1 liter of fuel.
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2023/01/20 17:08 Sent