World News for Students of English

02-02-2023 15:00

After days of increasing pressure, Germany decided to send 14 Leopard II tanks to Ukraine. They will also allow other countries to send their German tanks.

The action is the first time since World War II that German battle tanks have appeared on a European battlefield. This fact may not change the war’s end, but it definitely changes the political scenario. Germany’s announcement leads the way for other Western countries to supply help to Ukraine.

Finland, Spain, Poland, Estonia, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom are also considering sending tanks to fight. For months, Ukraine has been asking Western countries for more modern battle tanks to increase mobility and firepower; however, only time will tell if this united Western effort will help Ukraine push back Russia’s invasion forces.

Russia’s ambassador in Washington warned that any deliveries of US tanks would be an open provocation, and the Kremlin said that this decision would have terrible consequences for the West.

Difficult words: scenario (a development of events), provocation (an action or speech that makes someone angry).

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