hello everyone. welcome to the cnn newsroom. today the us and germany announced they are sending advanced level tanks to ukraine. this ends weeks of geopolitical squabbling and introducing what could be a game changer in the russian war in ukraine. it will take months for 31 american abrams tanks to reach the ukraine battlefield and there was no diplomatic arm-twisting behind the decision. they are the most capable tanks on the world and their extremely complex to operate and maintain. we are giving ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to sustain these tanks on the battlefield. .[indiscernible] germany did not force me to change my mind. i wanted to make sure we were all together. germany said it will dispatch 14 tanks to the troops. this move by the most powerful nato members opens the door for other allies to make contributions. the tanks will allow ukraine to go on the offensive and to retake occupied territory germany warns that the approval is extremely
have been there nick. you have seen the fighting up close. how will these tanks make a difference? however president biden is going to frame this anything that takes russia ? inside ukraine this is a defensive capability it s about enabling the ukrainians two ? russian held territory inside their own country to take on the defense and russian armor. this is a significant jump in the ukraine capability and the key issue is when it is in place because that s potentially a long way off it may change what we see on the battlefield possibly as soon as the summer but there s a long logistical chain behind the abrams tank complex fuel, they will need to get ukrainian technicians trained very fast in great detail to essentially move the major risk. the ? tank ends up laying idle because it needs repair or servicing more likely we will see the tank back in poland and