US tanks will be 'destroyed' in Ukraine just like any other NATO military equipment, says Russian envoy

New Delhi: As the White House prepares to send dozens of M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukraine despite its previous refusals, Russia’s ambassador to the US has warned that American battle tanks sent to Kiev will be destroyed by the Russian forces. The move, according to ambassador Anatoly Antonov, would only increase American involvement in the crisis and goes far beyond providing “defensive weapons.” “If a decision to transfer to Kiev M1 Abrams is made, American tanks without any doubt will be destroyed, as all other samples of NATO military equipment,” a Russia Today report quoted Antonov as saying. “The Americans are constantly raising the ‘bar’ of military assistance to their puppet government,” he added. According to Ambassador Antonov, the US has been the main sponsor of hostilities and is using Ukraine as a “proxy” in order to “inflict strategic defeat on Russia”. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, it will be impossible to justify such a step using arguments about defensive weapons. This would be another blatant provocation against the Russian Federation,” the report quoted him as saying. “No one should have illusions about who the real aggressor is in the current conflict,” he added. A decision to send a bit more than 30 tanks could be announced as soon as today, though it could take months for the tanks to be delivered. US officials said details are still being worked out. One official said the tanks would be bought under an upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, which provides longer-range funding for weapons and equipment to be purchased from commercial vendors. The US announcement is expected in coordination with an announcement by Germany, which has reportedly agreed to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks. According to unnamed government sources cited by German media on Tuesday, Berlin has also granted other countries, such as Poland and Finland, the licence to re-export the German-made tanks to Ukraine. The White House previously rejected Kiev’s demands for the M1 Abrams – which was featured on a Christmas ‘wish list’ circulated by Ukrainian officials around the holiday. On Tuesday, multiple news outlets reported that Washington had reversed course and now intends to send the hardware after all. According to the New York Times, while the Pentagon had argued that the Abrams is costly to operate and maintain, and could take years to reach the battlefield, officials now believe it is necessary to agree to supply the vehicle in order to persuade Germany to allow for shipments of its own Leopard 2 battle tank. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .