Allies meet at Ramstein air base over military aid to Ukraine — live updates
- Polish minister says there is no deal on tanks for Ukraine, but hope remains
- Germany denies blocking Leopard tank deliveries to Ukraine
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tells allies, ‘we need to dig even deeper’
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kremlin must be defeated
This article was last updated at 15:52 UTC.
Poland says coalition forming to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine
Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said he was confident efforts to provide battle tanks to Ukraine would succeed.
He said, however, a meeting of NATO and defense leaders at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany took no decision on the matter.
“Hope comes from the fact that… defense ministers of 15 countries met on the sidelines of today’s conference and we talked about this topic,” Blaszczak told reporters in Ramstein.
“I am convinced that coalition building will end in success.”
Poland is one of the countries putting pressure on Berlin to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv or allow other countries to provide the German-made tanks from their own supplies.
US wants Ukraine’s allies to ‘dig deeper’
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin invited the members of the Ukraine Contact Group to the conference at Ramstein, his country’s largest air base outside the US, and urged them to “dig deeper” into their stocks to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to repel Russia’s invasion.
Attendees included Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Resnikov and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Representatives from states not members of NATO were also present, as they were in the past two meetings at Ramstein.
Lloyd Austin: ‘Time to dig deeper’
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Zelenskyy urges agreement on military aid
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking via video link at the start of the meeting, urged the allies to “speed up” arms deliveries.
“Time must become our weapon. The Kremlin must lose,” he said.
He asked attendees to make it the “Ramstein of tanks”, calling for future gatherings to “go down in history as a Ramstein of F-16s and long-range missiles”.
“It is in your power to guarantee such artillery,” he told those attending the talks.
Germany to check availability of Leopard 2 tanks
Germany’s new Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin had yet to decide to send Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine but added that officials would examine their stocks for possible delivery.
“Today, we still cannot say when a decision will be taken, and what the decision will be, when it comes to the Leopard tank,” Pistorius said on the sidelines of a meeting at United States Air Base Ramstein on coordinating military aid to Ukraine.
The impression that “there is a united coalition and that Germany is standing in the way is wrong,” Pistorius said, adding that “there are many allies who say we share the view that I have put forward here.”
“There are good reasons for the delivery and there are good reasons against it,” he added.
Pressure is mounting on Germany to send its Leopard 2 battle tanks to help Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion and to allow its allies to do so as well.
Berlin’s permission also is required for other countries to send German-made weapons to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s backers weigh Kyiv’s plea for battle tanks
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
New military aid for Ukraine
Several countries pledged new military aid even before the meeting started on Friday.
On Friday, Finland announced a €400 million ($433 million) military aid package, its largest to date, including heavy artillery and munitions.
It comes after the US released a list of $2.5 billion worth of supplies, including Bradley fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, air defense systems, and tens of thousands of rockets and artillery rounds.
Britain announced it would send 600 Brimstone missiles, Denmark said it would donate 19 French-made Caesar howitzers, and Sweden promised its Archer artillery system.
Poland could send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine even without Germany’s re-export approval, a Polish deputy foreign minister said.
“I do not rule out that we are ready to take such a step,” Pawel Jablonski told radio station RMF FM. Jablonski was referring to the possibility of sending tanks to Ukraine even if Germany opposes it.
What makes the Leopard 2 the battle tank of choice?
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
lo/rt (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/allies-meet-at-ramstein-air-base-over-military-aid-to-ukraine-live-updates/a-64468440?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-xml-atom