Allies offer more weapons to Ukraine, but no decisions made on tanks
- Kyiv had hoped Germany would agree to send Leopard tanks for its spring counteroffensive during a much-anticipated meeting at Ramstein airbase
- Top US general Mark Milley says it will be very hard for Ukraine to drive Russia’s invading forces from the country this year
Western allies on Friday dampened Ukraine’s hopes for a rapid shipment of battle tanks to boost its firepower for a spring offensive against Russian forces, with the United States urging Kyiv to hold off from mounting such an operation.
The senior-most US general, speaking after a meeting of the allies at Ramstein Air Base, also said it would be very hard for Ukraine to drive Russia’s invading forces from the country this year.
The run-up to the Ramstein meeting had been dominated by the issue of whether Germany would agree to send Leopard 2 tanks, or permit other countries which have them, to Ukraine.
In the end, no decision on supplying Leopards was reached, officials said, although pledges for large amounts of other weapons including air defence systems and some other model of tanks, were made.
The United States was also holding fast to its decision not to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine yet, a senior US official said in Washington. It wanted to see the latest supply of US weaponry in place and training provided, the official said.
In Ramstein, US General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a news conference: “From a military standpoint, I still maintain that for this year, it would be very, very difficult to militarily eject the Russian forces from every inch of Russian-occupied Ukraine.”