Germany snubs Ukraine’s tank request

Germany will not send its modern tanks to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Friday, arguing there was no international agreement on the topic.

Speaking outside a meeting of defense ministers at the U.S. Ramstein military base in Germany, Pistorius said his government had still not agreed to a Ukrainian request for German’s Leopard 2 tanks to aid an expected spring offensive. 

“We all cannot say today when a decision [on potentially sending Leopard tanks] will come and what it will look like,” he told reporters.

Instead, Pistorious said, he has instructed the German army to “review” how many and which Leopards it could send, so the government can “act quickly” once a final decision comes.

Several European allies have publicly asked Germany to at least grant permission for other countries to donate their own Leopard tanks — a necessary step because of export restrictions on the German-made vehicles.

Pistorius said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz still needed to make a decision on these requests.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated his call for tanks just hours before Pistorious spoke. 

“We have to speed up,” he implored officials gathered in Ramstein. Friday was the moment, he insisted, not to debate details but to confirm one key principle: Kyiv’s partners will provide their modern tanks.

“It is in your power,” he said.