Tanks will help Kyiv. But its partners face fork in road | Jack Watling

Armour will allow Ukraine to mount a spring offensive - but it will also need support vehicles, and most Nato countries have a bare minimum of them. It's time to invest

The prospect of several countries providing Ukraine with Nato-designed main battle tanks offers a pathway towards renewed momentum in Kyiv's bid to reclaim its territory from Russian occupation. The next six months will probably be critical to this effort. Enabling Ukraine to operate these vehicles, however, will require more than just the tanks to be delivered to the Ukrainian armed forces.

The Russian military has been engaged in a sustained assault on the town of Bakhmut for months to little effect. The fields around the town are littered with the corpses of Russian soldiers, while the rate of fire from Russia's artillery is declining as it faces shortages of spare barrels and some munitions. With much of Russia's available forces committed, the spring offers the opportunity for Ukraine to go on the attack.