By Courtney Kube, Carol E. Lee and Abigail Williams -
NBC News
When announcing his decision to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine, President Joe Biden stressed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had recommended the move.
But Austin, along with other military leaders, had argued for weeks that it didn't make sense for the US to send the tanks to Ukraine, and he made his recommendation on providing them only after it was clear Biden wanted to send them, some 48 hours before his announcement, three US officials said.
[Russia reacts to sending powerful war tanks to Ukraine. He says it's a plan destined to fail]
Biden was initially hesitant to send the tanks, despite pressure to do so, in order to provide cover for Germany to send some Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to the officials.
He took to the idea after Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented possible solutions to a problem that was publicly exposing divisions within the US-Europe alliance.
The crew of a US Abrams tank take part in a military exercise with troops from Poland, the US, France and Sweden, in Nowogrod, Poland, on May 19, 2022. Wojtek Radwanski / AFP via Getty Images
The plan that Biden finally approved in a meeting Monday morning with members of his national security team, officials said, was tailor-made to provide cover for Germany: The United States would announce that it would provide 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, but not I would send them out for several months, if not a year.
But because Germany had said it would send Leopards to Ukraine if the US agreed to send tanks as well, the US promise of a future delivery opened the door for Germany to send tanks to Ukraine now.
The president's backtracking on tanks caught some military officials by surprise, marking the second time in a month that there has been such a dynamic between the White House and the Department of Defense over aid to Ukraine, according to three people. familiar with the matter.
Last month, some military leaders were similarly surprised when news broke saying the US would supply Ukraine with a Patriot missile defense system, the people said.
They believed that the debate over whether or not to do so was still going on even after Biden had made the decision to supply the missile system.
President Joe Biden announces additional military support for Ukraine as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listen in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.Alex Wong/Getty Images
Military leaders base their recommendations on assessments of the battlefield - and of the state of US weapons stockpiles - while the White House and State Department seem increasingly willing to factor political and diplomatic considerations into decisions. on military aid, the officials said.
That tension between wanting to give Ukraine what it is asking for, which often has bipartisan support in Congress, and what makes sense on the battlefield is likely to increase as the war drags on, the officials said. officials.
[Ukrainian Interior Minister dies after helicopter crash near kyiv]
A senior administration official said Germany's Leopard 2 tanks “just make more sense” than the US Abrams tanks, as they can get to Ukraine faster and aren't as complicated to maintain.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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A spokesman for the White House National Security Council declined to comment.
The State Department declined to comment.
On Friday morning, a US official told reporters that Biden would not provide Ukraine with expensive, high-maintenance tanks that his national security team leaders did not believe Ukraine needed just to provide cover for Germany in its own internal decision. .
The official specifically cited Austin and General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as advisers who did not believe the Abrams tanks were a net benefit to the Ukrainians, given their difficulty to operate and maintain.
The official also expressed his frustration with the Germans over the public back and forth over tank supplies.
[The tanks that the United Kingdom will give to the Ukraine to defend against the recent attacks from Russia]
Austin appeared to publicly imply on Friday that he did not believe the Abrams tanks were suitable for the ongoing fighting in the Ukraine.
“What we are focused on is making sure Ukraine has the capability it needs to be successful right now,” Austin said when asked at a news conference in Germany about sending Abrams tanks to kyiv.
The Abrams tanks, like the Patriot missile system last month, were on a list of options for military aid to Ukraine that was presented to the president.
But the Pentagon did not recommend any of them as the best option.
In the case of tanks, US military leaders argued that the UK's Leopards and Challengers were much better options.
Hundreds of the more than 2,000 Leopards spread across 13 European countries could arrive on the battlefield in Ukraine in time for the upcoming spring counteroffensive.
A US soldier helps maneuver a tank from a rail car as US Army personnel unload military equipment at the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase near Constanta in Romania on February 14, 2017. Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty pictures
On January 17, after Biden spoke with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Blinken, who has supported tank supplies for a while, suggested a way forward.
Biden became interested in the idea and commissioned the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, to find a way to make it a reality, taking into account the positions of the Pentagon and Germany.
On Monday, Sullivan, Austin and Milley met with Biden and presented him with concrete recommendations on how best to supply the Abrams tanks, according to the official.
The president then made the final decision that he announced on Wednesday.
One of the US officials said that for Biden the most important aspect of his strategy for Ukraine has been unity within the European-American alliance and that, seeing the tank debate unfolding across Europe, he believed there was a American action that could maintain unity.
Ultimately, Austin and Milley believed that the Abrams tanks were not the right choice for Ukraine at this time, but they were convinced that Ukraine needed the tanks as soon as possible.
Once Germany made it clear that it would not send Leopard tanks unless the United States provided Abrams, the White House had to act.
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Capitol Hill and Administration officials discussed sending a very small number of tanks as a symbolic gesture to cover other countries, but Austin and Milley ultimately agreed they should send enough to really make a difference in the field. of battle.
In the end, the Pentagon leaders decided to approve the tanks as part of a medium and long-term capability for Ukraine and to create a path that would allow this country to get the European tanks it needs now.
But those nuances were not present in Biden's remarks on Wednesday.
[Dramatic rescue of a woman from the rubble of a Ukrainian building attacked by Russia]
“Today I am announcing that the United States will send 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the equivalent of one Ukrainian battalion,” Biden said.
"Secretary Austin has recommended this step because it will enhance Ukraine's ability to defend its territory and achieve its strategic objectives."
Concern over the US military's arsenal of weapons could aggravate differences within the administration over some of Ukraine's requests in the future.
The Pentagon was reluctant to send Patriots to Ukraine, for example, in part because the system is needed to protect US troops and there were concerns that the military would not have them to hand out.
“With the Patriots and the tanks, the military is looking at things from the point of view of political considerations, and they are cautious,” said a person familiar with the discussions.
“Their stocks are running low, and that is creating real problems for them.”
Now, US officials say that one of the reasons for the increased urgency in getting Ukraine the military equipment it needs for an upcoming offensive is that some US officials hope Ukraine can build momentum and then begin exploring a diplomatic path forward.
Military leaders, specifically Milley, have also been more vocal about the importance of potential talks to end the war.