Western defense chiefs are set to gather Friday for a critical meeting designed to showcase a major new arms package for Ukraine that has been overshadowed by an escalating dispute over whether Berlin should allow its allies to give Kyiv German-built battle tanks.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is coming under increasing pressure from the U.S. and its allies to permit the export of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. So far, the German leader hasn’t given way, saying consent would come only after Washington agrees to send U.S.-made M1 Abrams battle tanks, which it has said it isn’t ready to do.