Ukraine’s president has urged western allies to resolve their stand-off over tanks as some 50 nations meet in Germany to step up arms supplies to Kyiv.
Friday’s Ramstein meeting comes as Ukraine seeks heavy armour to help it retake territory before Russia, which has mounted a massive mobilisation campaign, can refit and regroup.
“Hundreds of thank-yous are not hundreds of tanks,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said to the defence contact group meeting in Ramstein on Friday.
“Every unit helps to save our people from terror,” he said in a video address to the gathering of military leaders allied with Ukraine. “But time remains a Russian weapon. We have to speed up.”
His pleas come as Germany and other supporters are in a stand off over supplying main battle tanks, which the US and others have identified as an important part of Ukraine’s efforts to launch advanced combat manoeuvres and retake territory.
The UK has committed to sending Challenger 2 main battle tanks while other countries, including Poland, have expressed interest in following suit.
Germany’s stance is critical since Berlin must not only decide whether to send Leopard tanks, but also approve the transfer of any others from 12 other nations across Europe that have them.
Berlin has made clear it will not commit to sending Leopard 2s unless the US follows suit with its Abrams main battle tanks, which American officials say they are not ready to do. American officials believe the Leopard 2 tanks, which are lighter and easier to maintain, are better suited for the fight, whereas Germany is wary of acting without the US.
On Friday, the Polish government added to the pressure on Germany to allow tank exports with a warning from its deputy foreign minister that Warsaw was ready to use “non-standard” ways to supply Ukraine and circumvent Berlin. He did not specify exactly what alternative path could be used.
If Germany did not soon allow the re-export by Poland of Leopard tanks, “we will be ready to take such actions, also non-standard ones. Even if someone is offended by it,” deputy minister Paweł Jabłoński told Polish radio station RMF24. Earlier this month, Poland pledged to supply around a dozen Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy on Friday urged the military and defence officials present in Ramstein not to haggle over how many tanks to send but to dispatch them quickly. He asked them to consider other advanced systems, such as long-range missiles and fighter jets.
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin repeated Washington’s pledge to support Ukraine as long as it takes, and pointed to $2.5bn in new US assistance to include Stryker combat vehicles, air defence and more ammunition, among other key needs.
“This is a crucial moment,” Austin said. “Russia is regrouping, recruiting and trying to re-equip. This is not a moment to slow down; it’s a time to dig deeper.”
He added the US “won’t let up” or “waver in our determination to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s imperial aggression”.
It was unclear on Friday whether the US and other powers would be able to convince Germany to change course.
Alexander Müller, a member of the liberal Free Democratic party in the German parliament and member of the Bundestag’s defence committee, suggested the social democrats are changing their opinion and would eventually send tanks to Ukraine.
“They’re changing their minds slowly,” Müller told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday.
Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic party has “a lot” of pacifists, but “they see the pictures of the war and a lot of them have changed their mind already”, Muller said.
“Scholz has hidden behind our partners,” he added. But he “can’t be the one guy blocking delivery”.
Additional reporting by Raphael Minder in Warsaw
