Ukraine said it expected strong decisions from NATO and other countries that are meeting on Friday to discuss whether to send modern battle tanks and the United States said it was time to "dig deeper" to help Kyiv confront Russian forces.
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The defense ministers' talks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany follow Ukrainian warnings that Russia is seeking to re-energize its almost 11-month-old invasion after unilaterally annexing parts of Ukraine's east and south it does not fully control.
The United States and Finland announced new military aid ahead of the gathering, where the main focus will be whether Germany will allow the supply to Ukraine of its Leopard 2 tanks used by armies across Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the start of the meeting, thanked allies for their support, but said more was needed and more quickly to defeat Russia's invasion.
"We have to speed up. Time must become our weapon; the Kremlin must lose," Zelenskyy said.
Russia was regrouping, recruiting, and trying to re-equip, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the meeting. "This is not a moment to slow down. It's a time to dig deeper. The Ukrainian people are watching us," he said, without making specific reference to tanks. Berlin has veto power over any decision to export the tanks and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government has appeared reluctant to authorize that for fear of provoking Russia.
The Kremlin reiterated on Friday that Western countries supplying tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict but would add to the problems of the Ukrainian people. Some allies, along with Ukraine, say Germany's concern is misplaced with Russia already fully committed to war. "We are, in fact, now waiting for a decision from one European capital, which will activate the prepared chains of cooperation regarding tanks," Zelenskyy said in a separate address late on Thursday.
"We are expecting strong decisions." Lithuania, which fears for its own future if Russia overruns Ukraine, said on Thursday that several countries would announce sending the Leopard tanks to Ukraine at the meeting.
"Some of the countries will definitely send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, that is for sure," Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told Reuters about the Ramstein pledges, speaking after 11 nations met in Estonia on Thursday and pledged new military aid. A German military source said later that Germany had yet to receive a request from any country for permission to re-export German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Finland pledged more than 400 million euros ($434 million) worth of extra defense equipment for Ukraine and has indicated it could add Leopard tanks if there is an agreement with allies.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he was "moderately pessimistic" Berlin would give the green light. His government has suggested Poland may go ahead anyway.
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