Ukraine will receive a small batch of long-range ATACMS missiles from the US, and the first batch of Abrams tanks will arrive this week.

US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Washington would hand over a small number of long-range ATACMS missiles, according to US officials familiar with the negotiations. At the same time, they did not say when exactly Ukraine will receive the missiles.

Sources from the FT say that the Biden Administration decided to provide Ukraine with ATACMS even before Zelenskyy visited the US but decided not to announce it publicly. This was done to prevent tipping off the Russians and encouraging them to reposition their supply lines further from the front line.

The US will send the missiles soon, in small quantities at first. They are a version of the missile that is armed with cluster munitions rather than a single warhead.

During Zelenskyy’s visit, Biden clarified that the first American Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine this week.