Zelensky: If Berlin can deliver leopard tanks, then 'hand them over!'

Pressure is mounting on Germany to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others criticizing Berlin's reluctance to provide Kyiv with more powerful weapons.

"You are grown-up people. You are welcome to talk like this for another 6 months, but people are dying in our country - every day," Zelensky told ARD.

"In plain language: can you deliver leopards or not? Then hand them over!" he appealed to Berlin, referring to the heavier battle tanks Kyiv has been requesting for some time.

"It's not like we're attacking, if anyone is worried about that. These leopards are not going to pass through Russia. We are defending ourselves."

At the same time, Zelensky emphasized Kiev's gratitude to Berlin for providing military aid so far.

But Ukraine needs heavier weapons, he said, after calling on Germany for months to send Leopard 2 battle tanks.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has resisted, saying he needed to be in lockstep with NATO allies, referring to the United States.

The German government and freshly installed Defence Minister Boris Pistorius are to face a major test on Friday when allies meet at a US Air Force base in Ramstein in western Germany to discuss the question of further arms for Ukraine.

Pistorius reiterated that Germany will act in coordination with the US, in comments to ARD on Thursday evening.

The US government-backed Germany.

When asked why Germany was reluctant to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, National Security Council communications director John Kirby said Berlin knows what is at stake.

"Germany is one of the leading financial contributors to Ukraine. They have been right at the forefront since even before the war started," Kirby said on US television on Thursday evening.

"They're working through this in a sovereign way in a way that's unique to German to Germany and to enter their domestic concerns. And we have to respect that. We're grateful for what they provided. And we're grateful that they're thinking about providing tanks and we'll just we'll just have to see where this goes."

But ahead of the Friday meeting, pressure was growing on Berlin.

Earlier, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelensky said: "There are times when we shouldn't hesitate and say: 'I will give tanks if someone else shares their tanks.' I don't think this is the right strategy to go with."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov also weighed in: "We guarantee that we will use these weapons responsibly and exclusively for the purposes of protecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine within internationally recognized borders," they said in a joint statement.

They wrote that "Russia retains a substantial quantitative advantage in troops, weapons and military equipment" and warned of the "threat of a new full-scale offensive by the Russian forces."

The head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, also said Berlin should step up. "If you want to lead, that can't mean always doing the bare minimum last," the former top diplomat told dpa.

His calls were echoed by Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur.

"Estonia strongly supports providing Ukraine with all the necessary military equipment to win this war, including heavy equipment such as Leopard tanks," he told dpa in Tallinn ahead of a meeting of several European defence ministers in Estonia.

"The outcome of this war will determine the future of our common security," Pevkur said.

The German-built Leopard tank is widely exported and is used by armed forces of various countries.

But Germany has not yet given explicit approval for other countries to provide the tanks, causing further frustration among allies.

Poland said that it could send some of its Leopards to Ukraine even without Berlin's authorization.

German media outlets reported on Wednesday night that Scholz was now ready to provide the Leopards as long as Washington provides comparable tanks.

But on Thursday, Washington said it did not make sense to send Abrams main battle tanks to Kyiv.

"It simply does not make sense to provide this asset to the Ukrainians at this time," Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters in Washington on Thursday.

The Abrams main battle tank requires different fuel than, say, the Leopard 2 or Challenger 2 and is more costly to maintain, she said.

Later Washington announced a $2.5 billion Ukraine security package including, for the first time, Stryker armored personnel carriers as well as Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, among other things.

Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief of NATO forces in Europe considers the possible risk of escalation from deliveries of Western battle tanks to Ukraine to be manageable.

"Can we manage risk? Yes, absolutely. I believe we can manage risk in general," US General Christopher Cavoli told reporters on Thursday in Brussels after a NATO Military Committee meeting.

He clarified that he did not see much danger of Russia reacting with military strikes against NATO allies to the delivery of Western battle tanks to Ukraine.

The discussion of further weapons for Ukraine continued in Estonia and beyond.

Britain wants to send 600 more Brimstone missiles to Ukraine, Defence Minister Ben Wallace told a meeting of several European leaders at an Estonian military base in Tapa.

At the meeting some 150 kilometres from the Russian border, he and other participants adopted a joint declaration for military aid to Ukraine.

"What Ukraine needs most is heavy weapons to take the initiative and stand up to Russia," Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said.

Lithuania's Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas stressed that support for Ukraine's armed forces must be unlimited and called for the delivery of battle tanks.

Denmark also wants to supply Ukraine with heavy artillery, Danish Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen said after meeting the Foreign Affairs Committee. The government said it will send 19 Caesar howitzers ordered from France to Ukraine.