Abrams tanks will be entering Ukraine soon

 

U.S.-provided Abrams tanks "will be entering Ukraine soon," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday during the latest Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Germany's Ramstein Air Base. The gathering was Ukrainian military chief Rustem Umerov's first as defense minister, and it was the 15th of its kind since Russia's full-scale Ukraine invasion began in February 2022.

Austin's promise would seem to follow the Pentagon's updated estimate from March when officials predicted the Abrams would arrive by the fall. (Politico reported in late July that those tanks could start showing up inside Ukraine some time this month, which has just 11 days remaining.)

But Ukraine still badly needs air-defense systems to protect its energy infrastructure against Russian attacks, which is why Austin pressed the delegates to inventory and share whatever stocks they have available ahead of "another winter war" in the coming months. He also stressed the need for Ukraine's allies to share 155mm artillery ammunition. Tanks and armor come next, Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley said in his last meeting with the contact group before his retirement.  

"To date, Ukraine has liberated over 54% of Russian-occupied Ukraine," Milley said Tuesday while standing beside Austin. But there are still about "a couple of hundred thousand Russian troops that remain in Russian-occupied Ukraine," he said.  

For the U.S., Ukraine, and its allies, "The end goal remains crystal clear," said Milley. And that goal is to "Support Ukraine until [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin's unwarranted, illegal and ruinous war of choice comes to an end. Our commitment to Ukraine as a free, independent, and sovereign nation with its territory intact remains as ironclad as ever."

"Ukraine has not asked any other country to fight for them," Milley said. "All they are asking for is help—help with material and training. And we collectively are all here to support Ukraine so they may remain free, independent, and sovereign."

By the way: "Norway is now the biggest supporter of Ukraine, with aid to Ukraine amounting to 1.7 percent of its GDP," according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. That's largely a result of Oslo's recently announced "Nansen Support Program," which is worth €6.6 billion ($7.1 billion) over five years.

And European Union members combined have pledged about $90 billion so far—more than the U.S.'s $75 billion, according to Kiel's data, which runs to the end of July.

"Ukraine's fight is one of the great causes of our time," Austin told the delegates in Germany. "It's not just the fight for one embattled democracy; it's also a fight for a world where autocrats cannot just rewrite borders by force. It's a fight to avoid a grim new era of chaos and tyranny, and it's a fight for a world where rules are upheld, rights are protected, and aggression is punished."

"History will show the full folly of Putin's reckless, cruel, and unprovoked invasion of his peaceful neighbor," Austin said. "Just look at the 50 countries proudly represented around this table, standing together to defend Ukraine and the rules-based international order," he continued. "And then look at the Kremlin, left alone with the likes of Iran and North Korea."