President Biden Announces U.S. Will Send 31 Advanced Tanks to Ukraine to Unlock Moves Across Europe

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that the United States will be sending 31 advanced tanks to Ukraine. This move was made after Germany had expressed reluctance to send their own tanks to Ukraine, and is seen as a way to unlock similar moves all over Europe.

The decision was made after Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented potential solutions to the issue, which had been exposing divisions within the U.S. government. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had argued for weeks that it did not make sense for the U.S. to send the tanks, but made his recommendation after it was clear Biden wanted to send them.

Ukraine is hoping that the new tanks will help them punch through entrenched Russian lines in the east, and fuel an advance on Russia’s land bridge to annexed Crimea in the south. It is also hoped that the tanks will stave off a feared Russian spring offensive.

President Biden made a point to say that Defense Secretary Austin had recommended the move, and that it took Biden’s statesmanship to end the most public divisions within the U.S. government. The tanks are expected to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks.