原WSJ报导几个重点摘译:
https://tinyurl.com/yyyc2k4j
1. 美国决策转捩点
美国是在 1 月 17 日拜登与Olav通电话后改变立场，拜登在电话中同意逆反五角大楼的
判断，考虑提供M1坦克…
The shift in the U.S. position follows a Jan. 17 call between President Biden
and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in which Mr. Biden agreed to look into
providing the Abrams tanks against the judgment of the Pentagon, which
thought the tanks would be too difficult for Ukraine to field and maintain.
2. 交付数量与时间
美国预计将派遣约 30 辆坦克；一些美国官员表示（交付M1坦克）可能需要 12 个月的时
间。
The U.S. is expected to send about 30 tanks, according to U.S. officials …
some U.S. officials said it might take 12 months.
3. 德国对交付豹2的核心忧虑
Olav担心最终会在乌克兰出现一支几乎完全由德制坦克组成的队列与俄罗斯人作战，这
种情况可能使得德国被单独挑出来变成冲突的一方
Mr. Scholz was concerned about ending up with a fleet of almost exclusively
German-made tanks being used to fight the Russians in Ukraine, a scenario
that could single his country out as a party to the conflict
4. 美国政府内部的立场转化触媒
私下里，美国官员对德国拒绝批准提供德制坦克感到沮丧，并辩论著如何说服柏林改变立
场；然而，一些国务院和白宫官员对满足德国对M1的要求持开放态度，以避免支持乌克兰
（的国家）之间的外交破裂，并能加快交付更多武装。一些与白宫关系密切的民主党议员
，如德拉瓦州的民主党参议员库恩，也敦促提供一些M1坦克。
Privately, U.S. officials were frustrated by Germany’s refusal to approve
the provision of German-made tanks and have debated how to persuade Berlin to
change its stance…. Some State Department and White House officials,
however, had been open to meeting the German demands on the Abrams to avoid a
diplomatic rupture among Ukraine’s backers and to expedite the delivery of
more armor. Some Democratic lawmakers close to the White House, such as
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons* of Delaware, have also urged that some Abrams be
provided.
*库恩在2021年6月曾乘C-17和美国参议员达克沃斯 ( Tammy Duckworth )和苏利文(Dan
Sullivan)访问台湾，会见台湾总统和外交部长，宣布美国对台的COVID-19 疫苗捐赠
https://tinyurl.com/v6562392
库恩的维基照片
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chris_Coons.jpg