Blow to Putin as both Germany and US confirm they will send tanks to Ukraine

Published

2 years ago

January 25, 2023

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Germany will supply Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks and has given allies permission to send theirs too – despite threats from Russia – while the US has confirmed it will send over 31 M1 Abrams tanks in continued support of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s side.

It means other countries – such as Poland and Spain – which have stocks of the Leopard 2 tank and can now supply them to Kyiv.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Sky News he is “very happy” and “thankful” about the Leopard 2 decision – but warned the quantity and delivery time of the vehicles is “critical”.

“This is not an offensive threat to Russia,” US President Joe Biden told a news conference on Wednesday.

He said the US and its allies “will continue to do all we can to support Ukraine,” adding that Vladimir Putin “was wrong… we are united”.

Mr Biden said armoured capability has been “critical for Ukraine” and the US “will train Ukrainian troops as soon as possible”, adding that Germany has “really stepped up in support” of Mr Zelenskyy’s troops.

The US earlier said it would provide the necessary training and supplies needed to operate and run its M1 Abrams tanks as part of its “long-term commitment that we have to Ukraine’s defence leads”, a senior administration official said.

“In addition to the Abrams we’re also procuring eight M88 recovery vehicles,” the official said.

It is understood the US military aid package is worth $400m (£323m).

The US’s decision was made in coordination with Germany, following diplomatic conversations between the two countries.

Ukraine war – latest: Russia sends warning to US over tanks

Yesterday, Moscow warned Berlin that sending tanks “does not bode well for future relations” – and told the US that should it authorise such a move it would be a “blatant provocation”.

The Russian embassy in Berlin condemned Germany’s decision as “extremely dangerous” and an “escalation” of the conflict “to a new level of confrontation”.

In a statement, it said “battle tanks with German crosses will again be sent to the ‘eastern front’, which will inevitably lead to the death of not only Russian soldiers, but also the civilian population”.

“It destroys the remnants of mutual trust, causes irreparable damage to the already deplorable state of Russian-German relations, casts doubt on the possibility of their normalisation in the foreseeable future,” it added.

Kyiv has been pleading for months for Western nations to send modern battle tanks to give its forces the firepower and mobility it hopes will break through Russian defensive lines and recapture territory occupied by Russia.

“This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement on Wednesday. “We are acting in a closely coordinated manner internationally.”

Addressing the German parliament, he said there would be no ground troops or fighter jets sent to Ukraine.

Although Ukraine has stocks of Soviet-made tanks, President Zelenskyy says his forces need more, faster and deadlier weapons – in particular Western tanks – to push the Russians back.

There had been a sense of frustration among some of Germany’s allies about the delay in authorising the Leopards to go to Ukraine.

First time since WW2 German tanks will fight on European soil

Sky’s Siobhan Robbins in Berlin said the delay in the German chancellor’s decision was driven by fears he may escalate the war or make Germany a target.

“This is the first time since World War Two that German battle tanks will fight on a European battlefield,” she said.

“The chancellor had to balance the needs of Ukraine with the safety and support of Germans.”

Recent opinion polls showed German voters split on the idea.

The German decision comes after the UK announced it would provide 14 Challenger 2 tanks, which was widely seen as an attempt to persuade other allies to send Leopards, of which there are much higher stocks across Europe.

German tanks decision is a big deal – here’s why

Dominic Waghorn

International Affairs Editor

@DominicWaghorn

Germany has been stuck in an excruciating position. On the one hand for clear historical reasons it does not want to be seen taking the lead against Russia. On the other it happens to produce and supply a weapon that could prove crucial in Ukraine’s war against Putin.

That at least is how German officials have explained their predicament over the Leopard 2 battle tank. Their critics in the past week’s furious tank debate say that is an excuse. It is high time Germany acts its geopolitical shoe size they say, at the forefront of European nations. With its economic prowess and position in Europe come responsibilities and they should stop shirking them.

Either way Germany’s decision to send Leopards, finally and agonisingly reached is a big deal. It will be make a big difference perhaps decisively in a military sense. But geopolitically it sends a clear message albeit belatedly to Putin that the West remains united and determined to stop him whatever his clumsy attempts at nuclear blackmail.

Germans are uneasy about military aggression because of their Nazi past. Some have worried about the idea of German tanks rolling east again to kill Russians as they did in WW2.

They have also been proud of their policy of Ostpolitik, looking east, normalising relations with Russia and the role that played in ending the Cold War.

But critics say they have been in a muddle. The tanks are being sent not to aggress but to defend. And the last year has proven Ostpolitik a relic of the past or at least in need of an urgent overhaul. Their chancellor Olaf Scholz said as much in a speech when he said Germany has reached a Zeitenwende or historic turning point.

Berlin says it did not want to be seen taking the lead over tanks and has only acted now the US has agreed to send them too. But Britain had already taken the initiative, sending Challengers.

Rather than being seen as a team player acting on consensus, the last week has seen Germany dragging its heels apparently confused and unsure about its role in the coalition.

That is unfortunate because in reality Germany has given huge amounts to help Ukraine. It has acted now, but the damage to its reputation is done.

‘Big step towards stopping Russia’

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the move “the right decision by NATO Allies and friends”.

“Alongside Challenger 2s, they will strengthen Ukraine’s defensive firepower. Together, we are accelerating our efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace,” he said.

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki, who was among those critical of Germany’s reluctance, also welcomed the decision as a “big step towards stopping Russia”.

Earlier this week he had said he was prepared to build a “smaller coalition” of countries that would send their tanks to Ukraine anyway.

Sky News understands that American officials will soon announce their intention to send Abrams tanks to help Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion, but just how many is not yet known.

‘Whiff of panic’ about Russia

It comes as British intelligence suggested Russia’s most modern tank had been rushed to the warzone despite not being fully operational.

“In recent months, deployed Russian forces were reluctant to accept the first tranche of T-14 allocated to them because the vehicles were in such poor condition,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest Twitter update.

“It is unclear exactly what aspects of the vehicles prompted this reaction, but within the last three years, Russian officials have publicly described problems with the T-14’s engine and thermal imaging systems.

“Therefore, it is unlikely that any deployed T-14 tanks will have met the usual standards for new equipment to be deemed operational,” the MoD added.

Russia has been “panicked” by Berlin’s decision and has deployed its newest tank into active service despite reported faults, according to retired Air Vice-Marshal Sean Bell.

“There’s just a whiff of panic around the way that Russia is responding here,” he told Sky News.

“Almost certainly because Russia realises just how decisive the issue of tanks, the Western tanks to Ukraine, could be in this conflict.”

‘Global catastrophe’

First introduced in 1979, the Leopard 2 offers good protection against armour-piercing rounds and anti-tank guided weapons.

Berlin said it plans to swiftly begin training Ukrainian tank crews in Germany. The package being put together will also include logistics, ammunition and maintenance.

On Sunday, the speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, said: “Supplies of offensive weapons to the Kyiv regime would lead to a global catastrophe.

“If Washington and NATO supply weapons that would be used for striking peaceful cities and making attempts to seize our territory as they threaten to do, it would trigger a retaliation with more powerful weapons.”

US

Ghislaine Maxwell could use ‘government misconduct’ to challenge imprisonment

Published

7 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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Ghislaine Maxwell could use 'government misconduct' to challenge imprisonment

Disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell could use “government misconduct” to challenge her imprisonment, her family has claimed.

The 63-year-old, who was jailed in 2022 for luring young girls to massage rooms for Jeffrey Epstein to abuse, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Maxwell’s family have frequently claimed she “did not receive a fair trial”, but legal appeals against her sex trafficking convictions have been rejected by the courts.

The latest challenge from the Maxwell family comes as President Donald Trump faces questions over whether or not he will order the release of the so-called Epstein “client list”, following a backlash from Republican loyalists who have called for any list to be made public.

Judges previously dismissed arguments from Maxwell’s lawyers that she “should never have been prosecuted” because of a “weird” agreement drafted more than 15 years ago.

The family argue that Maxwell should have been protected under an agreement Epstein had entered with the US Department of Justice in 2007, which agreed not to prosecute any of his co-conspirators.

During her trial in 2021, Maxwell was described as “dangerous” by prosecutors, who told jurors about how she would entice vulnerable girls to go to Epstein’s properties for him to sexually abuse.

In a statement, her family said: “Our sister Ghislaine did not receive a fair trial.

“Her legal team continues to fight her case in the courts and will file its reply in short order to the government’s opposition in the US Supreme Court.”

David Oscar Markus, one of her lawyers, said in the statement released by her family: “I’d be surprised if President Trump knew his lawyers were asking the Supreme Court to let the government break a deal.

“He’s the ultimate dealmaker and I’m sure he’d agree that when the United States gives its word, it should keep it.

“With all the talk about who’s being prosecuted and who isn’t, it’s especially unfair that Ghislaine Maxwell remains in prison based on a promise the US government made and broke.’

“These are sentiments with which we profoundly concur.”

Epstein, 66, was found dead in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail in August 2019 as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

US

James Craig: Dentist in Colorado poisoned wife’s protein shakes with cyanide, murder trial hears

Published

16 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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James Craig: Dentist in Colorado poisoned wife's protein shakes with cyanide, murder trial hears

The trial of a dentist accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shakes has begun in the US state of Colorado.

James Craig denies using cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, an ingredient in over-the-counter eye drops, to kill Angela Craig in a suburb of Denver.

During the trial’s opening statements on Tuesday, prosecutors claimed the 47-year-old was having an affair with another dentist, had financial difficulties and may have been motivated by the payout from his wife’s life insurance.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley told the jury at Arapahoe District Court that the 43-year-old victim – who had six children with her husband – had been suffering worsening symptoms including dizziness, vomiting and fainting.

She died in March 2023 during her third trip to the hospital that month.

Mr Brackley accused Craig of poisoning her protein shakes – then giving his wife a final dose of poison while she was in hospital, and said: “He went in that [hospital] room to murder her, to deliberately and intentionally end her life with a fatal dose of cyanide … She spends the next three days dying.”

Craig, who shook his head at times during the prosecution’s opening statement, has pleaded not guilty to several charges, including first-degree murder, solicitation to commit murder and solicitation to commit perjury.

Prosecutors said Craig had tried to make it appear his wife of 23 years had killed herself. His internet history showed he had searched for “how to make a murder look like a heart attack” and “is arsenic detectable in an autopsy”.

In an argument, captured on home surveillance video, his wife also accused him of suggesting to hospital staff that she was suicidal.

After Craig’s arrest in 2023, prosecutors alleged that he had offered a fellow prison inmate $20,000 (£14,993) to kill the case’s lead investigator and offered someone else $20,000 to find people to falsely testify that Angela Craig planned to die by suicide.

Craig’s attorney, Ashley Whitham, told the jury to consider the credibility of those witnesses, calling some “jailhouse snitches”.

Ms Whitham argued that the evidence didn’t show that he poisoned her, instead seeming to suggest she may have taken her own life.

She described Angela Craig as “broken”, partly by Craig’s infidelity and her desire to stay married, since they were part of The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day Saints.

Hospital staff had said Craig had been caring and “doting” while Angela Craig was in the hospital, said Whitham.

The defence argued prosecutors had overdramatised Craig’s financial problems and dismissed the prosecution’s suggestion that Craig was motivated to kill because of an affair he was having with a fellow dentist from Texas.

“That’s simply not the case,” Whitham said, adding that Craig had many affairs over the years that his wife knew about. “He was candid with Angela that he had been cheating.”

The trial continues.

US

Trump to ‘refine trade deal’ with UK during Scotland trip

Published

22 hours ago

July 16, 2025

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Trump to 'refine trade deal' with UK during Scotland trip

Donald Trump has said he will “refine the trade deal” with the UK during his private trip to Scotland later this month.

The US president told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday that he will meet with Sir Keir Starmer “probably in Aberdeen”.

Politics latest: Reeves committed to ‘non-negotiable’ fiscal rules

Mr Trump is expected to travel to Scotland in the coming weeks to visit his golf courses ahead of an official state visit in September.

“We’re going to be meeting with the British prime minister, very respectful, and we are going to have a meeting with him, probably in Aberdeen, and we’re going to do a lot of different things.

“We’re going to also refine the trade deal that we’ve made.

“So we’ll be meeting mostly […] at probably one of my properties, or maybe not, depending on what happens, but we’ll be in Aberdeen, in Scotland, meeting with the prime minister.”

The UK and US signed a trade deal earlier this year that reduced car and aerospace tariffs, but questions have remained about a promise from Washington to slash steel tariffs.

In May, the White House said it would exempt the UK from plans for a 25% tariff on global steel imports but that is yet to be ratified and the levy has since been doubled on all other countries.

Mr Trump had insisted that unless Britain could finalise the details of a metals trade deal with the US by 9 July, when wider “Liberation Day” tariff pauses were expected to expire, he would slap the UK with a 50% rate as well.

However that pause was extended until 1 August, with the US president saying nations would instead get letters informing them of his plans.

As Sky News’ economics and data editor Ed Conway has reported, the metals deal has floundered on two key issues, including that while the government has taken control of British Steel, the company itself still legally has Chinese owners.

Downing Street is still hoping it can secure 0% tariffs on steel.

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On Tuesday, a Downing Street spokesperson played down the significance of the meeting in Scotland, stressing it was a private trip so it “will not be a formal bilateral”.

Since taking office in January, Mr Trump has imposed tariffs on countries across the world in a bid to boost domestic production and address trade deficits.

As well as sector specific tariffs, there is a baseline tariff of 10% for most other imports, though some countries face higher rates.

The UK was the first to hash out a deal on exemptions after a successful charm offensive by Sir Keir.

Mr Trump has praised the PM, telling the BBC earlier on Tuesday: “I really like the prime minister a lot, even though he’s a liberal.”

There are also plans for Scottish First Minister John Swinney to meet Mr Trump during his trip.

It will be followed by the official state visit between 17-19 September, when Mr Trump will be hosted by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle and accompanied by his wife Melania.

It will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK, having previously been hosted during his first term in 2019.