London should provide Ukraine with up to 50 tanks to make difference on battlefield 

Sky News reported on the statement of the former Chief of the British General Staff, General Richard Dannatt.

"It would seem that 12 is too tokenistic, and I would suggest sending 25 or 30 or even as many as 50, that would make a real difference," he commented to Sky News.

He said Ukraine is likely to see "some form of offensive" by Russia in late winter or early spring, so additional support from the West is needed "ever increasingly."

"If we decide to give them tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, they should then be strong enough to mount a significant counteroffensive. If they can do that, there is a chance that they could just strike decisive blows on the Russians, perhaps even to break the morale of the Russian soldiers,” he added.

Dannatt stressed that the end of the war must come on the battlefield, and "that's what it's all about now".

"So the point really is that the West, America, France, Britain, Germany need to get stuck in behind and provide offensive capability to the Ukrainians, so they can mount an effective counteroffensive, break the will of the Russian army and actually win this," he said.

• On January 11, a spokesman for the British government said that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had asked the Defence Minister to accelerate support for Ukraine, including the provision of tanks. Britain is considering the possibility of supplying Challenger 2 tanks.