KYIV/BERLIN, Jan 19 (Reuters) Ukraine pleaded on Thursday for the West to finally send it heavy tanks as the defence chiefs of the United States and Germany headed for a showdown over weapons that Kyiv says could decide the fate of the war.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Germany on Thursday to meet new Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, just hours after Pistorius was sworn into office.
The next day both will convene dozens of allies to pledge weapons for Ukraine at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base, a meeting billed as a chance to provide the arms to shift the war’s momentum in 2023.
Billions of dollars worth of military aid is expected, and countries including Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden have already announced new packages of armoured vehicles and air defences. But the meeting’s success could depend on whether it brings heavy tanks, which Kyiv says it needs to fend off Russian assaults and recapture occupied land.
“We have no time, the world does not have this time,” Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Thursday.
“The question of tanks for Ukraine must be closed as soon as possible,” he said. “We are paying for the slowness with the lives of our Ukrainian people. It shouldn’t be like that.”
A big pledge of tanks requires resolving a stand-off between Washington and Berlin, which has so far blocked allies from sending its Leopard 2 tanks, workhorse of militaries across Europe.
Washington and many Western allies say the Leopards – which Germany made in the thousands during the Cold War and exported to its allies – are the only suitable option available in big enough numbers.
