Does Germany sending tanks to Ukraine mean the US is open to sending their own?
Generously, you’d call the tank debate an evolution of views among Western policymakers.
Ungenerously, it’s rather a debacle and certainly doesn’t present the united front that Western nations have strived for through this year-old war.
The Ukrainians have become used to this pattern of Western indecision.
It follows a now familiar theme: have an almighty row, say “no”, and then agree. It’s almost baked into Ukrainian request lead time.
The news from Berlin and Warsaw – that tanks can go to Ukraine after all – suggests movement from the Americans.
Remember the Germans had said consistently that they didn’t want it to be only their tank fighting the Russians. (The British offering of a handful of Challenger 2s didn’t swing them.)
The Germans wanted the American M1 Abrams tank alongside their own Leopards.
The Americans said no. Their tank is much larger, has fuel issues – it’s designed to work with jet fuel not readily available on the Ukrainian frontline, it’s far heavier and relies on a unique, complex supply chain. Remember, in war, the success of any army and its kit is wholly reliant on a constant, smooth supply chain.
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Will Germany send tanks to Ukraine?
The M1 Abrams is also highly sophisticated and packed full of manufacturing secrets including composite armour containing hard-to-penetrate depleted uranium meshing.
The battle tank is the tip of an army’s spear. If it’s destroyed and left the wrong side of advancing enemy lines, then its secrets are compromised.
It’s one thing having American troops operating and, if needed, destroying their own damaged tanks. Can they rely on Ukrainian soldiers doing the same? This will be one consideration among many for the Americans when considering supplying their Abrams.
Within the American debate, opinion has been split. “Why not provide just a few tanks, older less sophisticated models, to unlock the impasse?” some politicians and generals have asked.
Even the former British prime minister, such a staunch supporter of Ukraine, chimed in.
“Where does the Western world need to station tanks at the moment?” Boris Johnson asked.
“Guarding North Rhine-Westphalia? Protecting Tennessee? Prowling the villages of Wiltshire? So let me pose the question again: what conceivable grounds can there be for delay?”
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At the Pentagon, the spokesman wouldn’t be drawn, even as the word from Berlin was of movement.
But General Pat Ryder did hint at an announcement down the line, talking about not wanting to “preview an announcement”.
And so expect news perhaps as soon as today from Washington.
It’s likely that any American tanks will take some time to reach the battlefield.
This will allow for the supply chain concerns to be ironed out and to allow time for training. It could also provide space to explore ways to reduce the risk of any prized technology within the tanks from getting into the hands of the Russians.
Of course the perennial unknown: how will Putin react? Western tanks in the fight will change the picture and his unpredictable red lines are a constant concern.
US
Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin wants to meet – and that he and Barack Obama ‘probably’ like each other
Donald Trump says a meeting is being set up between himself and Vladimir Putin – and that he and Barack Obama “probably” like each other.
Republican US president-elect Mr Trump spoke to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday, saying Russian president Mr Putin “wants to meet, and we are setting it up”.
“He has said that even publicly and we have to get that war over with. That’s a bloody mess,” Mr Trump said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday there was a “mutual desire” to set up a meeting – but added no details had been confirmed yet and that there may be progress once Mr Trump is inaugurated on 20 January.
“Moscow has repeatedly declared its openness to contacts with international leaders, including the US president, including Donald Trump,” Mr Peskov added.
“What is required is a mutual desire and political will to conduct dialogue and resolve existing problems through dialogue. We see that Mr Trump also declares his readiness to resolve problems through dialogue. We welcome this. There are still no specifics, we proceed from the mutual readiness for the meeting.”
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in July 2017. Pic: AP
Trump on Obama: ‘We just got along’
Mr Trump also made some lighter remarks regarding a viral exchange between himself and former Democrat President Barack Obama at Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday.
The pair sat together for the late president’s service in Washington DC on Thursday, and could be seen speaking for several minutes as the remaining mourners filed in before it began.
Mr Obama was seen nodding as his successor spoke before breaking into a grin.
Asked about the exchange, Mr Trump said: “I didn’t realise how friendly it looked.
“I said, ‘boy, they look like two people that like each other’. And we probably do.
“We have a little different philosophies, right? But we probably do. I don’t know. We just got along. But I got along with just about everybody.”
The amicable exchange comes after years of criticising each other in the public eye; it was Mr Trump who spread the so-called “birther” conspiracy theory about Mr Obama in 2011, falsely asserting that he was not born in the United States.
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Insults continued for years, with Mr Obama famously dedicating much of his final White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech in 2016 to jokes at his political rival’s expense.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Obamas, saying the former president was “ineffective” and “terrible” and calling former first lady Michelle Obama “nasty” as recently as October last year.
On Kamala Harris’s campaign trail last year, Mr Obama said Mr Trump was a “78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago”, while the former first lady said that “the consequences of him ever being president again are brutally serious.”
“He was asleep in his bed, where he still is right now, as I wait on the coroner.”
The haunting words of Kimiko Nickerson stopped us in our tracks.
Her father Rodney, 82, was sure the fire wouldn’t reach his home in Altadena. He was wrong.
The inferno cut through this quiet suburb north of Los Angeles at an alarming rate, its path unpredictable.
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She said: “He just didn’t want to evacuate. He’s been living here since 1968, and he’s been in Altadena my whole life.
“Like all of us on this block, in four blocks, he didn’t think it was going to be this devastating.
“It jumped whole streets, and it hit this community, but it didn’t touch the mountainside at all.”
They’re still trying to process the apocalyptic scenes here and grieving for those who did not get out.
Kimiko said: “I have no words to explain my feelings at this point in time.
“I’m just silent and numb and just mentally trying to go through the process.”
Rodney Nickerson decided not to leave his Altadena home.
Pic: Kimiko Nickerson
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It would be impossible to exaggerate the scale of the destruction, cars burnt to a cinder, palm trees still alight, powerlines strewn across roads.
So many people have lost the roof over their head but there’s one thing Kimiko says she’ll never lose – her memories.
“Every laugh, every joke he told.
“He was a smart man. He read the LA Times from cover to cover and walked around the Rose Bowl every day.
“He was healthy, he was ambitious… but he went to sleep and died in his bed back there.”
The US Supreme Court has rejected a last-ditch attempt by Donald Trump to delay sentencing in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
The president-elect was convicted on 34 counts last May in New York of falsifying business records relating to payments made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors claimed he had paid her $130,000 (£105,300) in hush money to not reveal details of what Ms Daniels said was a sexual relationship in 2006.
Mr Trump has denied any liaison with Ms Daniels or any wrongdoing.
By a majority, the Supreme Court found his sentencing would not be an insurmountable burden during the presidential transition since the presiding judge, Juan M Merchan, has indicated he will not give Mr Trump jail time, fines or probation.
Mr Trump’s attorneys argued that evidence used in the Manhattan trial violated last summer’s Supreme Court ruling giving Mr Trump broad immunity from prosecution over acts he took as president.
At the least, they said, the sentencing should be delayed while their appeals play out to avoid distracting Mr Trump during the presidential transition.
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Stormy Daniels. Pic: AP
Mr Trump’s attorneys went to the justices after New York courts refused to postpone sentencing.
Judges in New York found that the convictions related to personal matters rather than Mr Trump’s official acts as president.
Mr Trump’s attorneys called the case politically motivated, and they said sentencing him now would be a “grave injustice” that threatens to disrupt the presidential transition as the Republican prepares to return to the White House.
Mr Trump has said he will appeal again: “I respect the court’s opinion – I think it was actually a very good opinion for us because you saw what they said, but they invited the appeal and the appeal is on the bigger issue. So, we’ll see how it works out,” he said at a dinner with Republican governors at his private club in Florida.
Because the New York case was a state, rather than federal crime, Mr Trump will not be able to pardon himself when he takes office on 20 January.
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