US to begin delivering Abrams tanks to Ukraine in September

The US administration is poised to begin delivering US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine in September, the Politico newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper’s sources, several tanks will be sent to Germany for modernization in August.

"The plan is to send a handful of Abrams tanks to Germany in August, where they will undergo final refurbishments. Once that process is complete, the first batch of Abrams will be shipped to Ukraine the following month," Politico quoted anonymous sources as saying.

The US is sending older M1A1 models instead of the more modern A2 version, which would have taken a year to get to Ukraine, the newspaper said.

"The initial batch will involve six to eight tanks," an unnamed industry official was quoted as saying.