Pentagon chief: US plans to send 250 Abrams tanks to Poland
The Secretary of Defense announced that he intends to send 250 tanks to Poland to counter the Russian and Belarusian threats.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Friday that his country intends to send 250 Abrams tanks.
“A number of these forces (belonging to Russia and Belarus) are present within two hundred miles of the Polish border,” Austin told a news conference with his Polish counterpart, according to Reuters.
“If Russia wants to invade Ukraine, Poland may see a wave of tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians trying to save their lives and the lives of their families,” he added.
“These are the latest Abrams models, and they greatly increase Poland’s armor capacity,” he said of the 250 Abrams M1A1 tanks to be sent to Poland for approval. “[Sending these tanks] will also increase our ability to work together with the Polish Armed Forces and strengthen the credibility of our joint deterrence with other NATO allies.”
The announcement of the attempt to send American Abrams tanks to Poland comes as Westerners have accused Russia of deploying troops on its border with Ukraine with the aim of launching an “imminent attack.”
While the Americans have deployed an additional 5,000 troops in Poland under the pretext of the threat and brought in a number of their warplanes, Russian forces are returning to their bases after completing their exercises, claiming to be ready to attack.
