ARCHIVE – U.S. President Joe Biden listens as Japanese Prime Minister Kishida speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo: Evan Vucci/AP/dpa
The US Department of Defense announced a package worth around 2.5 billion US dollars (2.3 billion euros) on Thursday evening (local time). According to the Pentagon, it contains 59 Bradley armored personnel carriers and, for the first time, 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers – but no Abrams battle tanks.
It is the second-largest single package of its kind to date. The announcement comes shortly before a US-led coalition meeting at Ramstein Air Force Base in Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday, where defense ministers and senior military officials from numerous countries will discuss further support for the Advised Ukraine attacked by Russia.
According to the ministry, the delivery of American Abrams main battle tanks does not currently make sense. The Abrams requires different fuel than the Leopard 2 or Challenger 2 main battle tanks and is expensive to maintain, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Thursday. The Abrams had been discussed after it was reported that Chancellor Olaf Scholz had made the delivery of the US main battle tank a condition for a possible dispatch of German main battle tanks.
With the new package, the US has provided or pledged more than $27.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s administration, according to the US Department of Defense, more than $26.7 billion of which since the start of the Russian war of aggression at the end of February. The United States is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the defense against the Russian invasion.