NEW: After a dispute that exposed divisions within the U.S.-European alliance, President Biden decided to give tanks to Ukraine. Three U.S. officials detail how the U.S. changed course:
, President Joe Biden made a point to say Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had recommended the move. But Austin, along with other military leaders,, and he made his recommendation about how to provide them only after it was clear Biden wanted to send them, about 48 hours before his announcement, three U.S. officials said.
Last month, some military leaders were similarly caught off guard when news reports appeared saying the U.S. would supply Ukraine with a Patriot missile defense system, these people said. They believed the discussion about whether to do so was still active even after Biden had made the decision to provide the missile system, the sources said.
The official cited Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, specifically as advisers who didn’t think the Abrams tanks would be a net positive for the Ukrainians given how difficult they are to operate and maintain. The official also expressed frustration with the Germans over the public back-and-forth about providing tanks.
A U.S. soldier helps to maneuver an Abrams tank from a railway car at the Mihail Kogălniceanu air base near Constanța, Romania, in 2017.On Jan. 17, after Biden talked to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Blinken, who has supported providing tanks for a while, suggested a path forward, a senior administration official said. Biden started to warm to the idea and tasked national security adviser Jake Sullivan with figuring out how to make it happen, given the Pentagon’s and Germany’s positions.
Ultimately, Austin and Milley both believed the Abrams tanks weren’t the right option for Ukraine right now, but they felt strongly that Ukraine needed tanks as soon as possible, the officials said. Once Germany made it clear it wouldn’t send Leopard tanks unless the U.S. provided Abrams, the U.S. had to act.
The Pentagon was reluctant to send Ukraine the Patriots, for instance, in part because the system is needed to protect U.S. troops and there was concern the military didn’t have them to give.
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