WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is poised to approve sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as international reluctance toward sending tanks to the battlefront against Russian forces begins to erode.
The decision could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though it could take months or years for their delivery.
U.S. officials said details are still being worked out. One official said the tanks would be bought under an upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, which provides longer-range funding for weapons and equipment to be purchased from commercial vendors.
The U.S. announcement is expected to come Wednesday in coordination with an announcement by Germany that it will approve Poland’s request to transfer German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to one official. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision was not yet public.
Weapons provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative can take many months to several years to reach the battlefield. Much of the aid sent so far has been through a separate program drawing on Pentagon stocks to get weapons more quickly to Ukraine. But even under that program, it would take months to get tanks to Ukraine and to get Ukrainian forces trained on them.
It’s also unknown how many tanks would be approved.
Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
