As it happened: US president announces 31 Abrams M1 tanks will be sent to Kyiv, adding: ‘If Russian troops returned to Russia, this war would be over today’
There is “no offensive threat” to Russia, Biden says, adding that western support for Kyiv is about “helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land”.
He says:
If Russian troops returned to Russia, this war would be over today. That’s what we all want – an end to this war.
Biden says he told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy when he visited Washington in December that “we’re with you for as long as it takes”.
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:
President Joe Biden has approved sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, a significant escalation in the US effort to counter Russian aggression. Until now, the US has resisted providing its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, citing extensive and complex maintenance and logistical challenges with the hi-tech vehicles. Earlier, the president had spoken by phone with president Emmanuel Macron of France, Olaf Scholz of Germany, prime minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy and prime minister Rishi Sunak of Britain. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, thanked Biden for the “powerful decision” and described it as “an important step on the path to victory”.
Germany has confirmed it will make 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks available for Ukraine’s war effort. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said his government plans to send further military support to Ukraine beyond the 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks announced earlier today. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the decision, and said he is “sincerely grateful” to Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
By agreeing to send the Abrams, the US is able to meet Scholz’s demand for an American commitment but without having to send the tanks immediately. In public statements, Washington and Berlin had denied any connection between their respective decisions on tanks, although media reports said German officials had made clear in private that the Leopards were conditional on the US making a similar commitment.
Germany will also approve other European countries supplying German-made Leopard 2 tanks from their own stock. On top of the German company of Leopard 2A6 tanks, Finland, Spain and the Netherlands will also contribute vehicles of the same model, according to German media reports. A second battalion will be made up of Leopard 2A4 tanks supplied by Poland and Norway.
Germany’s offer of 14 Leopard tanks has prompted calls for more heavy armour by Ukraine’s government. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his ministers are also seeking to break a “taboo” on the provision of jets such as US-made F16s. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he had spoken to Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, about further military aid, including fighter jets, a request that has been repeatedly put to Nato allies without success.
The Russian embassy in Germany has accused Berlin of taking the conflict in Ukraine “to a new level of confrontation”. The decision to approve the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine means the “final refusal” of the German government “to recognise its “historical responsibility” to Moscow, Ambassador Sergei Nechayev said in a statement.
The Kremlin has downplayed the impact that western tanks will have in repelling its forces in Ukraine, saying that the military aid to Ukraine would “burn like all the rest.” In remarks to reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the expected transfer of Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks to the Ukrainian army a “failed plan.”
Ukraine’s military spokesperson, Serhiy Cherevatyi, has said Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the eastern town of Soledar in the Donetsk region, according to the country’s state broadcaster Suspilne. The withdrawal of forces was made “in order to preserve the lives of service personnel”, he said. His comments are the first Ukrainian confirmation of Soledar’s capture by Russian forces.
One person was killed in Kherson oblast due to Russian shelling, six others were injured, ten others were wounded in Donetsk oblast, according to Ukraine’s state broadcaster Suspilne. It said over the past 24 hours, the Russian Federation carried out four missile and 26 airstrikes, as well as more than 100 shellings from multiple launch rocket systems in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, fifteen senior officials have left their posts since Saturday, six of whom have had corruption allegations levelled at them by journalists and Ukraine’s anti-corruption authorities. On Wednesday prosecutor general Andriy Kostin signed orders on the voluntary dismissal of the heads of the Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Poltava, Sumy, and Chernihiv regional prosecutor’s offices. Oleksiy Kuleba, who was removed as governor of Kyiv on Tuesday, has been appointed deputy head of the president’s office as part of the reshuffle.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set its Doomsday Clock, intended to illustrate existential risks to the world, at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to midnight the clock has ever been since it was first introduced in 1947. It is “largely” because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they said. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reacted by saying “The situation as a whole is really alarming”, blaming Nato and the US.
The Russian defence ministry has said the frigate Admiral Gorshkov has tested its strike capabilities in the western Atlantic Ocean. In a statement, the ministry said the frigate had run a computer simulation on hypersonic Zircon missiles. Zircon missiles have a range of 900km (560 miles), and can travel at several times the speed of sound, making it difficult to defend against them.
The European court of human rights has said that a case brought by the Netherlands against Russia over the downing of passenger flight MH17 in July 2014 was admissible. “Among other things, the Court found that areas in eastern Ukraine in separatist hands were, from 11 May 2014 and up to at least 26 January 2022, under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation,” the court said in a ruling. The case will now move on to the merits stage, expected to take another one to two years before a final decision is issued.
Russia’s oldest human rights organisation, the Moscow Helsinki Group, has been liquidated after a Moscow court ruled it did not have the correct registration. Russia’s justice ministry filed a lawsuit against it in December, arguing that the group was only registered to defend human rights in Moscow – not other parts of the country – an argument that the group called nonsensical.
The UN’s cultural agency Unesco has said that it has designated the historic centre of Odesa, on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast, a World Heritage in Danger site. Odesa has been bombed several times by Russia since its latest invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and in July 2022 part of the large glass roof and windows of Odesa’s Museum of Fine Arts, inaugurated in 1899, were destroyed.
Human rights judges have said cases against Russia for the shooting down of flight MH17 and other alleged war crimes can proceed to trial, as they ruled that separatist-held areas of eastern Ukraine were under the effective control of the Russian Federation.
All 298 people onboard the Malaysian airlines flight travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when it was shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile while flying over eastern Ukraine in 2014 during the war in Donbas.
The Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for 196 of those killed, is seeking to bring a case against Russia for violations of the European convention on human rights in relation to the atrocity.
On Wednesday, the European court of human rights (ECHR) ruled that it could proceed as Russia had effective control over separatist areas in eastern Ukraine from 11 May 2014 until at least 26 January 2022 (when the admissibility hearing in the case took place). The judges cited Russia’s military presence in the region, its degree of influence over the separatists’ military strategy, the supply of weapons and military equipment to them, as well as political support.
The ECHR said the fact that Russia ceased to be a party to the European convention on human rights in September was irrelevant, as the events took place prior to that date.
The hesitation with which the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, arrived at Wednesday’s decision to send a company of Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, also allowing other European states to deliver more, has frustrated partners in Europe and puzzled political allies in Berlin. But to Hilde Blücher the pace was just right.
“I thought it was likable that he was wavering”, said the 73-year-old pensioner from the Düsseldorf area, passing by the Russian embassy on Berlin’s Unter den Linden boulevard on a visit to the capital. “I think the decision is right, but it was also right to take time to think it through.”
Her friend said:
My husband always says, we need to remember that we lost the second world war to the Russians. And if Russia has decided to continue that conflict, then Germany must at least not be in charge of wading in.
Scholz’s declaration of a Zeitenwende, or “epochal turn”, in German security policy last February raised expectations that the EU’s largest economy had overcome its historical reluctance on military matters and learned to lead from the front when it came to aiding Ukraine’s effort against Russia’s war of aggression.
Since then, debates about weapons exports have followed a familiar – and to many allies frustrating – pattern, in which Berlin prevaricates over different categories of hardware while it waits for other countries, especially the US, to take the lead.
But Scholz’s restrained approach is not unreflective of attitudes among the German public, especially among the 64-year-old’s age cohort. “I think what Scholz did over the last week was politically very well thought-through”, said Karl-Ludwig, 63, who had stopped outside the Russian embassy to look at a display of candles and photographs showing ruined Ukrainian cities.
Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has welcomed the US announcement that it will send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, describing it as a “historic day” that will “determine our future victory”.
In a Telegram post, Yermark writes:
The main thing is that this is only the beginning. We need hundreds of tanks.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has thanked his US counterpart Joe Biden for the “powerful decision” to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv.
Zelenskiy said he was grateful to the American people, describing the news as “an important step on the path to victory”.
Thank you @POTUS for another powerful decision to provide Abrams to 🇺🇦. Grateful to 🇺🇸 people for leadership support! It's an important step on the path to victory. Today the free world is united as never before for a common goal – liberation of 🇺🇦. We're moving forward
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) January 25, 2023
Britain’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, spoke with the leaders of the US, Germany, France and Italy this afternoon and “welcomed the decisions by allies to announce major battle tank contributions”, Downing Street has said.
In a statement after the call, No 10 said Sunak “said it was now clear Russia was on the backfoot, and there was a window for international partners to accelerate efforts to secure lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Sunak “called on allies to intensify their support in the coming weeks and months”, the statement says.
All the leaders welcomed the strong coordination of military supplies and reflected on the collective international action across the spectrum in support of Ukraine. They also welcomed the continued humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine in the wake of ongoing indiscriminate and barbaric Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The leaders “agreed to stay in close touch”, it adds.
Norway will send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as part of a group of western allies supplying the arms, according to defence minister Bjørn Arild Gram.
The Norwegian government has not yet released details on how many tanks it will send, or the timeline for getting tanks to Ukraine.
Asked by a reporter why the US had decided to announce the decision to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine just hours after Germany decided to send Leopard 2 tanks, Biden says:
Germany didn’t force me to change my mind. I wanted to make sure we’re all together … as we’re doing right now.
There is “no offensive threat” to Russia, Biden says, adding that western support for Kyiv is about “helping Ukraine defend and protect Ukrainian land”.
He says:
If Russian troops returned to Russia, this war would be over today. That’s what we all want – an end to this war.
Biden says he told Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy when he visited Washington in December that “we’re with you for as long as it takes”.
Biden says he is “grateful” to Chancellor Olaf Scholz for “stepping up” to provide German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and for his “leadership and steadfast commitment” to support Ukraine.
Scholz has been “a strong voice for unity and a close friend”, Biden says.
He goes on to thank every Ukraine-supporting country that took part in last week’s meeting of defence ministers at Ramstein airbase in Germany.
Ukrainian troops need to improve their ability to manoeuvre in open terrain and to deter and defend against Russian aggression, Biden says.
That’s why the US has committed hundreds of armoured fighting vehicles to date, including more than 500 as part of the assistance package we announced last Friday. And today, I’m announcing that the United States will be sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Biden describes the Abrams tanks as “the most capable tanks in the world” and “extremely complex to operate and maintain”. The US is therefore also giving Ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to effectively sustain these tanks on the battlefield.
He continues:
Delivering these tanks to the field is going to take time – time that we’ll use to make sure the Ukrainians are fully prepared to integrate the Abrams tanks into their defences.
President Joe Biden has confirmed that the US will supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1 Abrams tanks.
The US and Europe are “fully united” in their support for Ukraine against the “truly brutal aggression” of Russia, Biden says.
He says he had a “long conversation” with Nato allies, including Olaf Scholz, Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak and Giorgia Meloni, earlier today to continue “our close coordination”.
Russia expected that “we were going to break up”, he says. “But we are fully, thoroughly, totally united”.
President Joe Biden is expected to deliver remarks on continued US support to Ukraine in about 15 minutes.
The US president earlier spoke with France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and her UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak, on the countries’ close cooperation on support for Ukraine, according to the White House.
The US is poised to offer to deliver a significant number of its own Abrams tanks to Kyiv, in a reversal that could have significant implications for Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian forces.
We’ll be covering Biden’s remarks live on the blog.