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Republican Michael McCaul: "A single Abrams tank would be enough"
Photo: Bill Clark/AP
Two US politicians are urging their own government to supply Ukraine with Abrams M1 main battle tanks.
Just one of these would be enough to persuade European allies to send in Leopard main battle tanks, Michael McCaul told ABC.
He thinks just announcing such a delivery would be enough.
In addition to Republican McCaul, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Democratic Senator Chris Coons also endorsed Abrams deliveries.
It's time to put aside concerns about logistical and technical difficulties, he said.
If it takes American Abrams tanks for Poland, Germany and other allies to supply Leopard tanks, he would support that, Coons said.
"I respect that our military leadership believes that the Abrams is too sophisticated and expensive to be as useful as the Leopard, but we must continue to work with our close allies and advance in lockstep."
So far, only Great Britain has announced that it will support Ukraine with western main battle tanks.
The USA had previously refused the delivery of the American battle tanks, citing technical and logistical difficulties: the Abrams is powered by a turbine, like an airplane.
It therefore prefers the special jet fuel and has to be serviced by specially trained experts.
In addition, the battle tanks would first have to be made to Europe and has a comparatively high fuel consumption.
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Poland's prime minister sharpened tone: "Ukraine and Europe will win this war - with or without Germany"
Several media outlets reported last week that Germany would only allow the delivery of Leopard tanks if Washington also sent main battle tanks to Ukraine.
Even before the Ramstein conference on Friday, the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) denied this statement that he was “not aware of such a link”.
A list of available Leopard models has been available since early summer
Despite this, no agreement was reached on the Leopard issue at the Ramstein conference.
Pistorius only announced that he wanted to have the availability of the various Leopard models checked.
According to SPIEGEL information, however, the Ministry of Defense has had a corresponding list since early summer.
According to this, 19 Leopard 2A5 models would primarily be considered for a possible German delivery.
They would be used to "represent enemy forces" in the army's combat training center, ie simulate enemy tanks during maneuvers.
The troops say that the 2A5 models are best left out as they are only used for exercises (read more here).
Several western states also urged the federal government on Sunday to allow Leopard shipments.
As so often, the Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was the sharpest.
"We will not stand by and watch Ukraine bleed dry," he said.
If the German government persists in its refusal, Warsaw will form "a small coalition" of countries to supply Ukraine with "modern tanks" from their own stocks (read more here).
slu/Reuters
