Britain says it will donate tanks to Ukraine, breaking Western taboo

Western countries have been reluctant to give Ukraine tanks and other powerful weapons. As intensified spring fighting looms, that appears to be changing.

KYIV, Ukraine - After years of resisting supplying Ukraine with some of the most powers of the West, Britain said on Saturday it would donate main battle tanks to Ukrainian forces to help them prepare for Russian assaults expected this spring.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of his "ambition" to provide additional British main battle tanks and artillery systems, according to a statement from Downing Street. Ahead of the British statement, Mr. Zelensky thanked Mr. Sunak for "the decisions that will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but will also send the right signal to other partners".

British Challenger IIs would be the first Western-made battle tanks to be sent to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February. Officials in the United States and Europe have long feared that sending tanks and other powerful weapons that would greatly increase Ukraine's ability to harm Russian forces could prompt Russian President Vladimir V. Putin to step up the conflict, even potentially attacking Western targets or deploying small scale nuclear weapons.

But that calculus has started to change in recent weeks, as Western officials fear time is running out to help Ukraine prepare for a Russian offensive expected this spring and, some say, a counteroffensive in itself. They became more willing to take risks, in part because the Ukrainians performed well on the battlefield and used other sophisticated Western weapons with skill and within the limits set by their allies.

< figure class="img-sz-medium css -d754w4 e1g7ppur0" aria-label="media" role="group">ImageUkrainian soldiers in a defensive position near the Belarusian border with northern Ukraine on Friday. Ukraine and Russia seem to be preparing for spring offensives. the war to supplement its Soviet-era and Russian-made tanks and those supplied by other Eastern European countries. These tanks are wearing out quickly after months of battle and are also running out of ammunition which is no longer in production.

The pressure to meet Kyiv's pleas has accelerated this week as the British and Polish governments publicly called for a change in the Western alliance's stance. The British announcement could increase pressure on Germany to send its coveted Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, or at least to allow other European countries that have these German-made tanks to donate them to Ukraine. . Poland said this week it would send some of its German-made tanks, though Berlin would have to allow it.

Designed over a century ago to break up trench warfare, tanks combine firepower, mobility and shock effect. Armed with big guns, moving on tracks, and built with more protective armor than any other weapon on a battlefield, tanks can traverse rough, muddy, or sandy terrain where wheeled combat vehicles might struggle.

In Ukraine, officials say armored vehicles - including infantry fighting vehicles that France, Germany and the United States have announced last week they would send...