After Finland and Poland, the United Kingdom announced on Saturday, the “in the coming weeks” delivery of fourteen challenger 2. Pressures on Germany, which had always been refused, are on track to give way the chancellor.
by Cécile Boutelet (Berlin, Correspondence), Cécile Ducourieux (London, correspondent) and Cédric Pietrapurunga
This time again, “Gentlemen” fired the first. Already at the forefront in military support in Ukraine, the British government announced, on Saturday January 14, the delivery “in the coming weeks” of fourteen heavy tanks Challenger 2 to the soldiers of kyiv, a first for a Western country since the Entrance of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. This delivery reflects “the United Kingdom’s ambition to intensify its support for Ukraine,” said Downing Street after a telephone interview between British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and Ukrainian President Volodyr Zelensky.
Until now, the Western allies of kyiv had made the delivery of heavy tanks to kyiv a red line, believing that the supply of vehicles of such power was likely to train with Moscow. But the intensification of Russian strikes on civilian populations, and the prospect of a long war if no additional aid is brought to Ukraine, ended up convincing a certain number of countries to take the plunge. In addition to Great Britain, Finland and Poland say they are ready to send tanks to Ukraine.
“The country’s defense and security authorities think that an opportunity window has opened while Russia is on the defensive, due to supply problems and a half -maral. The Prime Minister encourages The allies to deploy their support for Ukraine as quickly as possible, “Downing Street justified in a statement published on Saturday. In an interview granted in mid -December 2022 to The Economist, the head of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeri Zaloujny, estimated at 300 the number of Western tanks – more precise and more powerful than the Soviet models already provided by certain European countries – necessary for The resumption of its offensives.
London support without reservation
By doing so, Rishi Sunak is part of his predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who unreservedly supported Ukraine in 2022. The United Kingdom was one of the first to arm kyiv’s forces, even before the start of the Russian invasion in January 2022, with NLAW portable anti -tank missiles, helping to stop the Russian armored vehicles converging on the Ukrainian capital. According to the Kiel Institute, which counts the aid to Ukraine, the United Kingdom is the second contributor in terms of military support, behind the United States. London also announced on Saturday the sending of 30 AS-90 self-propelled cannons.
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