>> Welcome to the newshour.
For the first time today, the
U.S. Announced it will send
American tanks to Ukraine as
part of a coordinated
announcement with Germany that
will also send its tanks.
>> A shift in U.S. Policy in one
of the most significant weapons
upgrades Ukraine has been asking
for.
>> Ukraine calls them the
critical weapon systems to
recapture its own territory.
Western tanks.
Today, the U.S. Pledged 31
Abrams tanks.
Germany approved nearly 100
leopard two tanks.
President Biden at the white
house.
>> Ukrainians are fighting the
age-old better -- battle.
The battle Americans have fought
proudly time it again.
A battle we will make sure the
Ukrainians are well equipped to
fight, as well.
>> The German chancellor in
Berlin.
>> There really is a war going
on in Europe.
Not far away from here.
That is what we do what is
necessary.
>> A half-dozen European
countries to send their German
leopard tanks.
The goal is to create battalions
for a few thousand Ukrainian
soldiers in the next two or
three months.
It would be a major upgrade to
Ukraine's mostly soviet era
armor.
The Ukrainian president called
it a historic achievement.
>> We have to form a fist of
tanks, a fist of freedom that
will not allow Tierney to arise
again.
>> Germany's announcement men's
a European rift exposed by
Poland and others angered over
Germany's prior resistance.
>> The Germans are defending
themselves against this like the
devil to protect themselves
against holy water.
>> They were waiting to send a
new capacity to Ukraine until
the U.S. Took the step with
them.
>> It is right we did not let
ourselves be driven and we
instead counted and will
continue to count on close
cooperation for such an issue.
>> Very clear the German
government doesn't want to take
a major step they feel may be a
cause of escalation.
>> The president of the German
Marshall fund says the fears of
education over running European
in World War II to hesitate.
>> A historically difficult
moment.
For the Germans to be sending
them back into the theater.
They feel stronger and more
capable while the U.S. Is
standing behind them.
>> The U.S. Took the step with
them, even though it called the
Abrams tank unsustainable for
Ukraine as recently as Friday.
The challenges >> >> It is is --
the challenge is it is
expensive, it is difficult to
sustain, and has a huge turbine
engine that requires jet fuel.
>> None of these excuses were
compelling.
>> Retired general Ben hodges's
commander of the U.S. Army in
Europe.
He argues the timeframe
announced to deliver Abrams in
months, perhaps a year, is not
fast enough.
>> I'm disappointed.
The amount of time it took to
get to this decision, and the
way the decision will be
implemented, does not convey a
sense of urgency the
administration wants Ukraine to
win anytime soon.
>> Could the U.S. Have gone
faster?
>> We always have a choice.
If you want me to win, I will
take the closest tanks I've got,
those that are in storage on the
ground in Europe.
>> Nearly 90 tanks that could be
deployed within weeks.
>> The troops on those a gram --
Abrams tanks that train, do
gunnery, and put them on trains
and send them to the front.
>> The front may prove Ukraine's
biggest challenge yet.
Ukraine has recaptured some
territory in the east and in the
south.
But Russian forces have been
digging in.
Recapturing the occupied
territory will require a lot of
firepower.
That is why the U.S. And
European priority is the
leopards.
>> They played a key role if
they get there in the next two
or three months.
>> President zelenskyy said the
key is speed and volume.
How quickly and how many tanks
can be supplied to Ukraine.
To discuss this, I'm joined by
the coordinator for strategic
communications for the national
security council.
Welcome back to the newshour.
Why have the defense department
procured Abrams tanks, a process
that can take months, rather
than have Abrams tanks already
in Europe, sent to Ukraine?
>> The Pentagon took a look at
this, and said there are no
excess tanks in the U.S.
Inventory.
And even if there were, to
provide drawdown authority, take
them off of the tarmac and move
them in, would requirements of
preparation to get them ready to
go into Ukraine.
Things they would need to do to
the tanks themselves.
Not to mention the training that
needs to happen for the
Ukrainian soldiers.
Also the important component,
the sound but you played kind of
got us this.
Very capable, sophisticated
symptom -- systems.
The supply chain issue.
And so that Ukrainian
maintainers can fix these things
in a battlefield environment
swiftly and efficiently.
A lot goes into this.
They looked at this, and
procuring new tanks will not
make much of a difference in the
timeframe than if they were to
try and draw them off of stocks.
They did not find any excess.
>> You mentioned the top defense
department policy official.
I had him just a few days ago.
Explaining why the Abrams tanks
is unsustainable to Ukraine.
What changed between Friday and
today to make it more
sustainable?
>> Nothing has changed.
The challenge is he put -- still
there.
We are open and honest about how
sophisticated the system is and
how hard it will be for any
military to operate and
maintain.
There are foreign militaries who
use Abrams tanks.
It is just that sophisticated a
system.
Tanks have never been off of the
table.
We have been discussing tanks
with the Ukrainians, allies and
partners for many months.
What is different now, big
changes, the conditions on the
battlefield.
More particularly, the
conditions we think the
Ukrainians and the Ukrainians
think they will be facing as the
weather turns better, as spring
comes, and we can assume the
Russians will try and regain a
sense of momentum.
>> Those concerns existed a few
days ago when we heard
administration officials say the
tank was unsustainable.
Given that you believe there is
still the same concerns you have
been talking about for days, did
the president authorize these
tanks explicitly so Germany
would authorize?
>> We moved in lockstep with
Germany.
It is a coordinated
announcement.
We are grateful for that.
For Germany's contributions.
It was also the results of weeks
of discussions about this
particular capability and other
armored capabilities.
It is about making sure the
Ukrainians have what they need,
the tools they need to conduct
effective combined arms
operations we think they will
conduct in the spring and summer
months.
The tanks were a part of that.
So it was done in close
coordination with the Germans.
>> You say Ukraine, give Ukraine
what it needs.
Ukraine needs 300 tanks between
the Abrams we are talking about
and the leopards.
Give or take about 100.
Why not give more?
>> I missed the last question.
>> You said Ukraine has stated
what it needs.
You are getting Ukraine what it
needs.
It needs 300 tanks Bridget --
300 tanks.
We are only talking about 100 or
so.
You are not giving them what
they need even after today's
announcements?
>> That is our focus right now.
Those that will take months to
get into Ukraine and the Germans
have committed to two more
battalions.
That gets you up to about 90.
We will keep talking to
Ukrainians.
But we know they have real
needs.
We are working in lockstep with
them.
Real timing with them to provide
capabilities they need.
>> Before the announcement, some
German officials raised concerns
about giving tanks would lead to
Russian escalation.
Why do you think giving U.S. And
European tanks will not lead to
Russian escalation?
>> We are always concerned about
the possibility for escalation.
We can all agree having the war
escalate and become something
like Vladimir Putin claims it
is, the west versus Russia, that
is not good for the Russian
people, our national security
interests, and certainly not for
Ukrainian people.
We have obviously been mindful
of escalation management since
the beginning.
With every system we provide.
We factor the calculus into
that.
As the president said, and he
was very clear, the tanks
represent no offensive threat to
Russia.
They do, however, present a
threat to Russian forces
illegally in Ukraine and they
should take note.
There is no offensive threat to
Russian homeland, so there will
be no reason for the Russians to
overreact.
>> The goal here is to get the
leopards into Ukraine in the
next two or three months.
They have to be trained, they
have to create these battalions
of various different tanks.
Is it realistic Germany and the
other European countries can
pull it off?
>> Yes.
We have been in close contact
with the Germans and other
nations that have leopard tanks.
And we are confident.
I don't want to get ahead of
them.
But we are confident they will
be able to get into Ukraine
leopard tanks at a faster rate
than we will be able to get the
Abrams.
In these tanks are very good,
very capable.
There is a lot on the European
continent.
They can have a more near-term
impact.
>> I only got less then minute
left.
He announced his first major
anticorruption shakeup.
The deputy chief of staff,
multiple ministers, prosecutors
all out of a job.
The U.S. Said there is no
evidence the money was part of
what the U.S. Has given, but
does it concern you corruption
has historically existed?
>> Certainly, we take the
corruption allegationsz
seriously.
-- Allegations seriously.
The president has taken action.
We don't have any indication any
of our systems, financial or
security, otherwise, has been
involved in this.
That is where we are working
closely with the Ukrainians on
issues of accountability,
particularly over the weapon
systems we provide, boosting up
capability at the embassy to do
exactly that, to monitor and do
the best we can to provide
appropriate oversight and
accountability with systems we
are providing Ukraine.