Bundeswehr Leopard 2 A6 heavy tank.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said Kyiv still wants an international deal to provide Ukraine with German-made tanks it says it needs to fight Russia.
Western allies pledged to provide Ukraine with billions of dollars in weapons last week, but failed to persuade Germany to lift its veto on the Leopard tanks held by NATO allies.
Leopard tanks are considered by defense experts to be the most suitable for Ukraine.
“Of course, we want Ukrainians to equip them with something like the Leopard 2 and artillery systems provided by us and others,” Cleverly said in an interview with Sky News.
“We will continue our conversations with NATO allies and friends to facilitate the donation of the best military equipment to Ukraine that will help it defend itself from this brutal aggression.”
Asked if Germany was doing enough to help Ukraine, Cleverley said: “Everyone is doing the best they can, but each country is helping Ukraine in the way that is most appropriate for them. will do,’ he said.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged allies at a meeting on Friday to do more to help Ukraine. However, no decision was reached on the supply of leopards, officials said, but a large supply of other weapons was promised.
Germany’s Social Democrats, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, are traditionally skeptical of military intervention and wary of a further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
A Kremlin spokesman said on Friday that Western supplies of additional tanks to Ukraine would not change the course of the conflict and would exacerbate the problems of the Ukrainian people.
