The United Kingdom will supply Ukraine with Challenger 2 tanks and will be the first country to send heavy Western-made vehicles to help its ally against the Russian invasion, the government said in a statement today.
Conversation With President
During a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed “the UK’s commitment to stepping up its support for Ukraine, including the supply of Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems,” according to Downing. Street.
The government did not specify how many tanks it will send, or when, or how it will provide training in the use and maintenance of the Challenger 2, a vehicle that began to be manufactured in the 1990s and was used in armed conflicts such as those in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq.
But the British and Ukrainian leaders agreed on the “need to take advantage” of the recent victories of the kyiv forces that “drove back the Russian troops,” the AFP news agency reported.
After the conversation, Zelensky thanked the UK for decisions that “will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners,” he wrote on Twitter.
Since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, kyiv’s European allies have already delivered nearly 300 modernized Soviet tanks, but never Western-made heavy tanks, despite repeated requests from Ukraine.
The UK announcement comes three days after Poland said it was ready to deliver 14 Leopard 2 heavy tanks, a German tank model considered one of the most effective in the world.
Last week, France, Germany and the United States promised armored vehicles to transport infantry and reconnaissance tanks, among others.
Russia, for its part, sent protest notes to all countries that supply weapons to Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that any arms shipment to kyiv will become a “legitimate target” for his country’s Armed Forces, the Sputnik news agency reported.
In turn, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, commented that the supply of weapons to Ukraine will have a negative impact on the conflict. (Telam)
This article is originally published on grupolaprovincia.com