As West gears up to send 321 tanks to Ukraine, N Korea accuses US of ‘crossing red line'

Ukraine's Ambassador to France on Friday said that western nations will deliver more than 300 tanks to Ukraine. “As of today, numerous countries have officially confirmed their agreement to deliver 321 heavy tanks to Ukraine,” Vadym Omelchenko told French TV station and CNN affiliate BFM television. Omelchenko’s interview came as North Korea accused the United States and its allies of “further crossing the red line” by sending tanks to Ukraine.

The figure from Omelchenko comes after the US this week pledged to provide 31 M1 Abrams tanks and Germany agreed to send 14 Leopard 2 A6s. Previously, the United Kingdom pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks, while Poland asked for approval from Germany to transfer some of its own German-made Leopard 2s to Ukraine. He did not specify which countries would provide the tanks or provide a breakdown of which models. 

When the tanks will arrive in Ukraine remains unclear. Omelchenko said delivery dates would vary depending on the type of tank and the country of origin, and the timing would be adjusted during the next round of consultations between Ukraine and Western countries. However, echoing the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who had previously urged the West to provide what some experts see as game-changing military hardware, Omelchenko said Ukraine needed the assistance “as fast as possible”.

“If it had to wait until the month of August or September, it would be too late,” he said.

Military experts have said that the tanks represent the most powerful direct offensive weapon provided to Ukraine so far by its allies.

Wrecking global peace: North Korea to the US

The US has a “sinister intention to realise its hegemonic aim by further expanding the proxy war for destroying Russia,” said Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a statement run by North Korean media on Friday, according to CNN.  She further accused the US and other Western countries of “wrecking the global peace and the regional security while handing military hardware running into astronomical sums of money over to Ukraine in total disregard of Russia’s concern about security” – and vowed North Koreans would “always stand in the same trench” as the people of Russia.