Pressure mounts on Germany to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has called on the allies to send more heavy armored weapons to Ukraine amid intensified fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

"We are in a crucial phase of the war. We are now seeing heavy fighting. It is therefore important that we equip Ukraine with the weapons it needs to be able to win – and survive as an independent nation,” Stoltenberg said in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt.

His remarks came ahead of a meeting of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Western counterparts later this week to discuss sending further heavy weapons to Ukraine.

Stoltenberg welcomed recent statements from the US, the UK, and France to send battle tanks and armoured fighting vehicles to Ukraine.