German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for her dismissal, she said in a statement on Monday, the culmination of growing scepticism about her ability to bring the German army into shape against the backdrop of the Ukraine war.
"Today I asked the chancellor to dismiss me from the office of federal minister of defence," Lambrecht, a member of Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD), said in the statement.
Her decision to step down comes as Germany is under pressure to approve an increase in international military support for Kyiv, and Germany's defence capabilities have been called into question after several Puma infantry tanks were put out of service during a recent military drill.
(Writing by Miranda Murray and Kirsti Knolle, editing by Rachel More)
