Of countries allied with ukraine met on friday at ramstein air base in germany’s south-west to coordinate arms supplies for kyiv. the summit was held a day after the us and several european nations committed to providing additional equipment to help ukraine defend against any future russian offensives. the uk offered 14 of its battle tanks – but kyiv wants more. yuriy sak, an adviser to the ukrainian defence minister, commented that allies faced a “simple choice”.
the summit took place on friday, at the ramstein air base in germany’s south-west. more than 50 countries were present, and the german chancellor, olaf scholz, was under increasing pressure to donate leopard 2 tanks, following the uk’s donation of 14 of their challenger battle tanks. poland’s prime minister mateusz morawiecki expressed his “moderately pessimistic” outlook on receiving berlin’s blessing. lithuanian minister has stated that “some countries” will be sending leopards.
Arms supplies were coordinated in response to the us and several european nations’ commitment to providing additional equipment to ukraine to help them defend against any future russian offensives. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky expressed his frustration over berlin’s alleged hesitancy on thursday. he is hoping to receive a number of american-made abrams tanks. retired us army general david petraeus suggested washington’s reluctance was due to concerns over the maintenance of these vehicles. in response, russia has warned western countries that providing tanks to ukraine would be an “extremely dangerous” escalation of the conflict. moscow has consistently argued that the presence of foreign weapons in the country would only worsen violence in the region.
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