Ukraine needs ‘thousands of Western tanks’ to change course of war, says Ambassador Prystaiko

"We need thousands, that's for sure because Russians are putting thousands of tanks in front of our lines," he said.

Read also: NATO chief says situation near Soledar and Bakhmut shows Ukraine needs more help

Prystaiko also commented on the situation in Soledar, where fierce fighting is currently taking place, and said that the town is completely destroyed, and the Russian forces are losing hundreds of soldiers in an attempt to "present some kind of win to (Russian dictator) Vladimir Putin."

Read also: Finland to consider sending battle tanks to Ukraine ‘if other countries do as well’

Earlier, former chief of the British General Staff Richard Dannatt said that London needs to send "up to 50" Challenger 2 tanks to really change the situation in Ukraine.

Before that, in an interview with UK news magazine the Economist at the end of last year, the Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that he would need 300 Western main battle tanks to be able to defeat Russia.

Read also: Zaluzhnyi says he ‘doesn’t need hundreds of thousands more’ to defeat Russia

But since then, there have only been two offers of modern Western tanks from Ukraine’s allies, and the numbers of machines offered was not large.

On Jan. 11, the British government confirmed for the first time that it plans to send 10 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine to protect it from Russian aggression.

Polish President Andrzej Duda announced on Jan. 11 that Warsaw would send a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of an international coalition – the number was not directly specified, but a company of Polish tanks numbers 14 vehicles.

Read also: Duda and Nausėda meet with Zelenskyy in Lviv to sign agreement on mutual cooperation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked his ally, but stressed that "one state with Leopards will not be able to help," adding that Ukraine expects a joint decision from a group of countries.

Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine