Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has urged US allies to "dig even deeper" to support Ukraine with military aid at what he described as a crucial time for Kiev in the conflict against Russia.
"We need to keep up our momentum, and our resolve. We need to dig even deeper. This is a decisive moment for Ukraine in a decisive decade for the world," he said at Friday's talks at the US Ramstein Air Base in Germany. "The Ukrainian people are watching us, the Kremlin is watching us, and history is watching us."
During his speech, Austin confirmed that the US would be providing Kiev with yet another massive package of aid, which totals $2.5 billion and includes - for the very first time - Canadian-made Stryker armored fighting vehicles. "Make no mistake. We all support Ukraine's self-defense as long as it takes," Austin promised.
The secretary of defense met with members of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group at Friday's gathering, with other officials in attendance including NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a speech at the event by videophone.
The Pentagon announced Thursday that the $2.5 billion aid package would include 90 Strykers, 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, some 350 Humvees, eight Avenger air defense systems, and tens of thousands of additional artillery, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft munitions, including HIMARS, NASAMS, and 120 and 155 mm artillery rounds.
Hesitation Over Tanks
But both the US and its German allies have shied away from sending heavy main battle tanks to Ukraine, at least for the moment, citing fears of an escalation with Moscow - which has already characterized the Ukrainian crisis a proxy war between Russia and NATO.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced this week that it would be "easier" for Berlin to send tanks east if the US did so first. "You know our history, and we are little bit more reluctant there for understandable reasons," Habeck said, no doubt referencing the fact that the last time German tanks were rolling across the Ukrainian plains was during the Second World War and the invasion of the Soviet Union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Germany's hesitation at his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, expressing annoyance at what he perceived as Berlin's indecisiveness on the delivery of Leopard MBTs to Kiev for months on end.
In an interview with German media published early Friday, Zelensky again slammed Berlin's intransigence. "If you have Leopard tanks, give them to us. It's not like we're going to attack someone, if anyone's worried. Those Leopards aren't driving through Russia. We're defending ourselves," he insisted.
The UK announced last week that it would be sending 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine. NATO has already sent over 350 tanks to Kiev over the past year, but these have so far mostly been limited to Soviet-era T-72 variants.
Russia has repeatedly slammed Washington and its allies over the increasingly advanced weapons systems appearing on the battlefield in Ukraine, warning NATO of the risks of escalation, and of illegal arms smuggling of arms out of Ukraine to hot spots across the globe.
Ukraine's defense minister admitted earlier this month that Kiev was "carrying out NATO's mission" in the conflict against Russia, and dubbed his country a "shield...defending the entire civilized world" from its eastern neighbor. Reznikov expressed "absolute" certainty that Ukraine would eventually be begged to join the Western alliance, and said that in some ways, Kiev was "de facto already a member of NATO."