US claims Germany waiting for Washington to kickstart tanks supply to Ukraine

Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has backed supplying U.S.-made Abrams tanks to support Ukraine in the Rusia-Ukraine war, reported Kyiv Independent. This announcement was made after Germany would allow the delivery of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Germany would allow the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine if the U.S. supplied Abrams tanks to Kyiv, as per reports. However, the German government has denied making such a demand. 

"If we announced we were going to give Abrams tanks, just one ... what I hear is that Germany is waiting for us to take the lead. Then they would put Leopard tanks in. And remember, there are about 10 countries that have Leopard tanks, but they need Germany to sign off," said McCaul during an interview with a US local news channel. 

Helping Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine war 

Both countries are still in the process to give more defense support to Kiyv. So far, the US has refused to supply Abrams tanks to Ukraine whereas Germany has failed to make a decision on supplying Leopard tanks, reported Kiyv Independent. Even though the decision to supply tanks is not yet final, Democratic Senator Chris Coons and U.S. Representative Seth Moulton have voiced a similar opinion about it.

Both democratic and republican members felt the need to send some Abrams tanks to unlock getting the Leopard tanks from Germany, Poland, and from other allies. Further, Democratic Senator Chris Coons added, "I respect that our military leaders think the Abrams is too sophisticated, too expensive a platform to be as useful as the Leopards, but we need to continue to work with our close allies and move forward in lockstep."

Meanwhile, Germany has been criticised for delaying and blocking arms supplies to Ukraine. Recently, Berlin’s newly appointed defense minister Boris Pistorius said "no final decision had been taken," while talking about the military help to Ukraine. Kiyv had hoped in Europe and the US that Germany would at least allow Leopards owned by countries such as Poland and Finland to be re-exported but is disappointed by the delay, reported The Guardian.