London is once again pushing ahead with arms deliveries to Ukraine. With the Challenger 2, the country wants to deliver a modern battle tank to Kyiv for the first time – it should also be a political signal to Berlin.
Great Britain wants to provide Ukraine with Challenger 2 main battle tanks to ward off Russian war of aggression. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said this in a conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as announced by the British seat of government Downing Street in London.
“The Prime Minister outlined Britain’s intention to step up our support to Ukraine, including the deployment of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems,” a Downing Street spokesman was quoted as saying. Sunak and Selenskjy welcomed other similar announcements, including Poland’s offer to provide Leopard tanks for one company – that would typically be 14.
London initially did not say how many challengers should go to Ukraine. However, a dozen of the tanks are reportedly in talks.
Overall, the Leopard 2 is a much more widespread tank than the Challenger 2. Apart from Great Britain, only the Gulf state of Oman has the British tank in its inventory so far. In view of possible suppliers and the availability of ammunition and spare parts, this makes it less attractive for Kyiv than the Leopard, which is used by a total of 20 countries worldwide.
With London’s announcement, the arguments of the federal government are likely to be even more difficult to maintain. It recently decided to deliver Marder armored personnel carriers to Ukraine. Zelenskyj thanked Sunak for his support on Twitter and emphasized that the decision would “send the right signal to other partners”.
More than ten months after the start of the invasion, Russia has occupied a good 18 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Ukraine is almost completely dependent on Western arms supplies. In addition to light weapons and ammunition, Berlin has already delivered heavy self-propelled howitzers and anti-aircraft systems. In addition, the delivery of 40 Marders armored personnel carriers was announced.
Source: Stern
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