Germany faced mounting pressure to supply battle tanks to Kyiv and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aired frustration about not obtaining enough weaponry as Western allies conferred Thursday on how best to support Ukraine nearly 11 months into Russia's invasion.
Since the U.K. announced last week that it will send Challenger 2 tanks, Berlin has faced increasing calls to supply Leopard 2 tanks or at least clear the way for others, such as Poland, to deliver German-made Leopards from their own stock.
Germany鈥檚 new defence minister, Boris Pistorius, left open whether that will happen and under what conditions hours after meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on his first day in office.
He told ARD television he was 鈥減retty sure we will get a decision on this in the coming days, but I can鈥檛 yet tell you today how it will look.鈥
Austin will host a regular coordination meeting of Ukraine's Western allies at the United States' Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Friday.
Speaking by video link to a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy offered a veiled critique of major supporters such as Germany and the U.S. that have nonetheless hesitated about sending tanks.
He bemoaned a 鈥渓ack of specific weaponry.鈥 Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "There are times where we shouldn鈥檛 hesitate or we shouldn鈥檛 compare when someone says, 鈥業 will give tanks if someone else will also share his tanks.鈥欌
Ukraine's foreign and defence ministers said that the promised British tanks, while welcome, are 鈥渘ot sufficient to achieve operational goals.鈥
鈥淲e guarantee that we will use these weapons responsibly and exclusively for the purposes of protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders,鈥 Dmytro Kuleba and Oleksii Reznikov said in a statement, appealing to Germany and several other countries that use the Leopard 2 to join an 鈥渋nternational tank coalition.鈥
For months, Ukraine has sought heavier vehicles such as the Leopard and U.S. Abrams tanks, but Western leaders have trodden carefully.
Germany has been particularly in focus recently. Critics, some inside Germany鈥檚 governing coalition, have long complained of Chancellor OIaf Scholz鈥檚 perceived hesitancy to take the next step when it comes to weapons deliveries.
Scholz has been wary of pressure, insisting that Germany wouldn鈥檛 go it alone and pointing to a need to ensure that NATO doesn鈥檛 become a party to the war with Russia, though every time so far Berlin has eventually moved ahead. He portrays his cautious weighing of each step as a virtue.
In Davos Wednesday, Scholz avoided directly answering a question about Leopards, saying Germany will remain one of Ukraine's top weapons suppliers and that "we are never doing something just by ourselves, but together with others 鈥 especially the United States.鈥
German officials have conveyed their hesitancy to allow allies to give Leopards unless the U.S. also sends Ukraine the Abrams, according to a U.S. official who wasn't authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Asked whether Germany would only deliver Leopards if Washington supplies the Abrams, Pistorius replied that he isn鈥檛 鈥渁ware of such a package.鈥 But he insisted that aid must continue to be 鈥渃oordinated鈥 and it鈥檚 important for Germany to proceed 鈥渟houlder-to-shoulder with the Americans.鈥
An upcoming new package of U.S. military aid is expected to include nearly 100 Stryker combat vehicles and at least 50 Bradley armored vehicles 鈥 but not the Abrams, which U.S. officials says has complex maintenance needs and may not be the best fit.
鈥淚 think this isn鈥檛 about avoiding going it alone any more, but about avoiding being alone,鈥 Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German ambassador to the U.S., said on Deutschlandfunk radio of the calls for German tank deliveries.
Some eastern NATO allies have provided Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukrainian forces, but officials acknowledge that supplies of Soviet-era equipment with which Ukrainian forces were already familiar are limited.
Senior officials from Britain, Poland, the Baltic nations and other European countries met in Estonia on Thursday before the Ramstein gathering.
U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said his country would send at least three batteries of AS-90 artillery, armored vehicles, thousands of rounds of ammunition and 600 Brimstone missiles, as well as the squadron of Challenger 2 tanks.
Wallace told The Associated Press that the decision to send battle tanks was a 鈥渘atural progression鈥 of U.K. military support for Ukraine and was discussed with the U.S.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to donate armored personnel carriers, you need to complement that with tanks,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e had some tanks that we thought could do that.鈥
Wallace acknowledged that the Challenger shipment 鈥渋s not the single magic ingredient鈥 for Ukraine, which has said it needs 300 tanks, among other weapons, to expel Russian forces. But he voiced hope that it will complement Bradley armored vehicles the U.S. is already supplying and help 鈥渓ead the way鈥 for others to send tanks.
Estonia announced its largest military aid package to date, including howitzers, ammunition, artillery support equipment and grenade launchers.
Elsewhere, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country has decided to send up to 50 Swedish-made combat vehicles plus a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile system and the Archer artillery system to Ukraine.
Denmark plans to donate 19 French-made Caesar self-propelled howitzers.
___
Jamey Keaten reported from Davos, Switzerland. Associated Press reporters Aamer Madhani in Washington, Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.
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What does New Westminster's t蓹m蓹sew虛tx史 Aquatic and Community Centre have in common with a historic 68,000-seat stadium in Beijing, an NFL stadium and the aquatics venue for the Paris Olympics? They've all been named among the world's most beautiful sports venues for 2024.
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