No decision on supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was reached at a meeting of allies at Germany's Ramstein Air Base, Poland's defense minister said on Friday, though he remained optimistic that efforts to provide them would end in success.
"Hope comes from the fact that...defense ministers of 15 countries met on the sidelines of today's conference and we talked about this topic," Mariusz Blaszczak told reporters in Ramstein. "I am convinced that coalition building will end in success."
Blaszczak added that Poland would provide Ukraine with additional Soviet-made T-72 tanks and some infantry vehicles, without specifying their type.
"We must do everything to help Ukraine, so that the war does not spill over to NATO territory," Blaszczak said.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Friday denied Berlin was unilaterally blocking the shipment of Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine but said the government was ready to move quickly on sending them if there was consensus among allies.
