Biden Reverses Course, Agrees to Supply Ukraine With Abrams Tanks

Eyeing a renewed Russian offensive in Ukraine expected in the spring, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the United States will send 31 top-tier battle tanks, the M1 Abrams, to help Ukraine defend itself and on the battlefield and eventually at the negotiating table while clearing the way for embattled European allies to make similar pledges.

The decision represents a reversal from the Biden administration's approach to helping Ukraine, with the president reluctant to send a signal that the United States is either a participant in the war or making a move against Russia, which could provoke Russian President Vladimir Putin to cast the Western involvement as an attack on his country. That could trigger a potentially cataclysmic war between Russia and NATO something no member of the security alliance wants.

But providing the tanks, along with other help from allies, is meant to change the game on the battlefield as the Russian invasion of its western neighbor approaches the one-year mark.