During a town hall on CNN on Thursday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that President Joe Biden was advised by the military that the Abrams tanks the U.S. agreed to send to Ukraine wouldn’t “make sense” for that war, Germany said it wouldn’t provide the tanks that would make sense “unless you, the United States, provide your tanks. And President Biden said, if me providing Abrams tanks, even if it’s not the most sensible military move, will help unlock German tanks to get to the front lines and also will sustain alliance unity, I will do it.”
Sullivan responded to a question by host Fareed Zakaria on why the U.S. seems to resist sending weapons before changing its mind by stating, “So, first, Fareed, the way that our military and our intelligence community make recommendations to the President is they look at the needs of the Ukrainian military during the phase of the war that they are confronting at that time. … As we head into the spring, what Ukraine really needs is armor, infantry fighting vehicles, and, yes, tanks. Now, — and we’re providing those. The President was advised by his military, Abrams tanks, the American tank, doesn’t really make sense for this fight, what they really needed were Leopard tanks, German tanks that a bunch of countries in Europe own, but the Germans said, we won’t provide our tanks unless you, the United States, provide your tanks. And President Biden said, if me providing Abrams tanks, even if it’s not the most sensible military move, will help unlock German tanks to get to the front lines and also will sustain alliance unity, I will do it.”
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