(Bloomberg) -- The US and Germany will send armored vehicles and an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, a significant upgrade in firepower urgently sought by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the fight against Russia’s invasion.

The US will provide its Bradley Fighting Vehicles while Germany is sending its Marder vehicles, the leaders said Thursday in a joint statement. Germany also will provide Ukraine a Patriot battery — the second headed to the country after the US said last month that it would send one of the powerful air-defense systems.

President Joe Biden discussed the moves in a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Thursday.

“President Biden and Chancellor Scholz expressed their common determination to continue to provide the necessary financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as needed,” the leaders said in the statement.

Armored vehicles have been near the top of Zelenskiy’s wish list as his forces seek to counter the tanks and other armored vehicles that have been a key advantage for Russia in the conflict so far. During a visit to the US last month, he reiterated the need for heavier weapons.

One person familiar with the matter said the US was sending about 50 of the Bradleys built by BAE Systems Plc, as reported earlier by Reuters. Germany will send 40 of its Marder vehicles, according to a spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

“Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us,” Zelenskiy told Congress in a speech on Dec. 21. “I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves.”

US officials had previously balked at the idea of sending armored vehicles, saying that heavier weapons would be too difficult for Ukraine to operate and maintain. But allies already have announced moves to provide such weapons. Poland has provided tanks, and France said on Wednesday that it will send its AMX-10RC armored vehicles. 

The US vehicles, which are armored infantry vehicles equipped with anti-tank missiles and can carry troops into combat, will be part of a weapons package that the Defense Department plans to announce on Friday. A person familiar with the plans said the $3 billion package will include $2.85 billion in weapons drawn from US stockpiles as well as funds for Ukraine to buy additional US equipment.

“We’ve got to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians resist Russian aggression,” Biden told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “Russia is not attempting to slow up. The actions they are taking are as barbaric as they were a year ago, and they’re not letting up at all, at all.”

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia may be gearing up for a fresh offensive in the spring. Equally, the warmer weather might let Kyiv’s forces press the advantage, having pushed Russian forces out of areas they occupied in the early days of the war.

 

Scholz’s Evolution

Scholz had come under renewed pressure from political allies in Germany to step up efforts to support Ukraine with more heavy weapons. In an editorial in Germany’s Bild newspaper recently, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on Germany to send its Leopard tanks, saying it would be difficult otherwise to capture more territory from Russia.

Thursday’s announcement places Germany, often seen as a laggard in supplying Ukraine, alongside the US in providing critical offensive and defensive weapons and may act as a spur to other European nations to step up their contributions.

In a tweet, Zelenskiy said “Germany is making a crucial contribution in intercepting of all Russia’s missiles.”

The decision to provide the weapons marks perhaps the biggest step yet for Chancellor Scholz as he tries to deliver on his pledge in the early days of the invasion to ramp up Germany’s military muscle. It’s a decisive shift from his cautious predecessor Angela Merkel, who had argued that deepening economic ties with Russia would mitigate the risk of military aggression.

Nevertheless, the move may hold some risk for Scholz, even without considering the possibility of Russian escalation. Germany’s history makes any kind of military engagement a highly sensitive issue.

Although the Bradley Fighting Vehicle is lighter than a tank, David Perkins, a retired US four-star general, said last month that it would be a “significant improvement over current Ukrainian fighting vehicles” and is “more than a match” for Russia’s infantry fighting vehicles and its T-72 tanks.

While on vacation in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands over the holidays in late December, Biden signed a $1.7 trillion government funding bill that included $47 billion in additional aid for Ukraine. The US has already appropriated about $65 billion in such aid.

--With assistance from Courtney McBride, Tony Capaccio, Roxana Tiron and Volodymyr Verbyany.

(Updates with size of US arms package, additional Biden comment starting in ninth paragraph)

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