so when that day comes, then people sit down and negotiate men to this. but there's been a huge amount of suffering on both sides. ladies and gentlemen, that is all the time we have available today. mister secretary, gentlemen, we thank you both gentlemen. this concludes our press briefing, and if you're just joining us, we've been listening to a press conference by us defense secretary lloyd austin, and the u. s. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mark, milly, they were speaking at a meeting of nato and defense leaders at the us air base in ramstein. let's go back to d. w. the chief political correspondent, nina houser, who is an ramstein and has been following the remarks made by the 2 of them. neither the us defense secretary, he began by outlining all the new military aid that's being pledged by ukraine's allies. and again, he stressed that it's not just about ensuring ukraine security, but it's also about the security of europe and even the world about the future of

the world. what else stood out for you in the remarks by the defense secretary? what i thought was interesting was how the u. s. defense secretary austin said that today was actually a very clear message that the west is united that are, they are resolved, remain committed to supporting ukraine for as long as it takes. they warned that list war, my dragon, and that day to day was a symbol also of unity or towards russia. and. and they said that essentially a boot and could end the war right now, but he's likely not going to do that. and so this is why that they said that lots of countries have made important pledges today that can help ukraine almost immediately on the battlefield. and they said that that was vital that now with all those donations that have come from allies, they now need to synchronize them so that ukraine can be given

a can be turned into a fully operational, their capabilities that those donations can be turned into. fully operational cap capabilities that can make a difference on the battlefield. now if the u. s. defense secretary lloyd austin was disappointed because we didn't hear from the german government. whether they were going to give the green lights to the leopard, to deliveries those deliveries of those combat tanks. that term have put germany so much in the spotlight in recent days and weeks. if he was disappointed, he was very good at hiding that. indeed, he and praised germany for the big deliveries that they have announced already of advent systems, for example, armored vehicles, et cetera. and, but this remains a topic that the coalition will continue to discuss. and he said that this contact group of nato allies in the west is essentially proving now that they remain committed and that they will sit together very closely in the next couple of days

and weeks as well. so that ukraine is ready for when that offensive from russia comes that everybody's talking about where rushes regroup thing so that ukraine can push back russia in this offensive. yeah, i was also emphasized by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mark, milly, this notion of unity. and he even said that in his i think it was 43 years in uniform. this is the most united he'd ever seen nato. so nina, is this a sign of a new kind of resolve when it comes to supporting ukraine? is this a turning point? this meeting in ramstein? i think they are hearing very clear of warning signs from moscow, indeed that they are this regrouping. and the training that russia has announced for their spring offensive is to be taken seriously. and as this is something that, of course, many allies in nato are very concerned about because they are so close just

geographically speaking. and the baltic states, for example, and poland, which is why they're willing to throw a lot into ukraine right now. so that ukraine can hold its ground, that it can defend itself. now the chairman also said that he doesn't expect you train to be able to push rash or out of its territory entirely by the end of the year. but that at least they might manage to claim back some of its territory. and that, that was vital that now the west shows that it can support ukraine with a co ordinated military package. because of course, it doesn't help if ukraine gets lots of different tank system, for example, where there's no maintenance infrastructure in europe or it doesn't help if it gets lots of different vehicles that need different ammunition. this all needs to be coordinated and that's what's happening at the moment. now of course, all eyes are again on germany because it is a very difficult to explain to international partners,

which is why the german government is so hesitant, but germany says it's not alone. in this reluctance to send those combat tangs. but they also said that there will be a decision whether it's a 2 to morrow or next week or in 2 weeks. that new defense minister said he doesn't know, but there will be a decision. and if it's positive that the german government will give it's ok to delivering leopard 2 tanks to ukraine then. and he said he's ordered his ministry to take stock already of what is available now already is a very positive word in this context because of course, you could wonder why didn't that happened last dear? so the criticism of the german government is not going away, but officially, at least in the public sphere, the west is trying to show a very united picture here at ramstein. it was indeed interesting to hear the german defense minister say they're going to be checking the stocks even though

there is no decision yet. it's kind of a no, but not really a no. was there more detail on what exactly is making germany hesitate like this? well, there are several factors of play here it all i've sold is very hesitant and has always said that germany can't be the only country delivering combat tags. he doesn't want the pictures of german tanks fighting against russian tanks not on ukrainian territory, especially not on russian territory. there are simply those memories of the, the cruelties that germany committed during the 2 world wars. but there's also public opinion, which is a factor that plays into will have choices hesitancy here. the picture is very split when it comes to should germany deliver the those tanks or not. and behind the scenes you're hearing, well yeah. what if this goes wrong? what if russia does when, what if ukraine doesn't manage to do it?

germany is not a nuclear power. so what do we do if all those weapons are in our neighborhoods and we can control them and we couldn't defend ourselves? all of this is something that is probably and playing a part in why germany has been so reluctant, but you also have to say that so far, the german government has not been very good at communicating in the public. just why it's been so reluctant now, many people are now hoping that this will change with a new defense minister. he's only been in the job for a day and a half. but already many people here are saying he's a much better communicator than his predecessor. so maybe he'll also help take away some of the pressure from germany. well, of course, the kremlin has also been watching the meeting at am, shan airbase and is falling very closely all the pledges for additional military aid for ukraine. we've heard from a spokesman for the kremlin that there warning the west against consequences if

they do continue to send additional military to ukraine and insisting that it's not going to make a difference in the battle field. was there a discussion among a possible escalation on the part of russia or the threats that are coming from the kremlin? well, not officially nobody and confirmed that here on the record. but of course it's something that all defense ministers have to take into considerations. having said that, this is not new, russia has been warning that it is a nuclear power that it could retaliate. they've also said that those new weapon systems are not going to help you crane, and that russia remains even more committed. russia does say that they find themselves at war with nato. now, nato is of course, still saying we're supplying ukraine with weapons. we are not party to the war. and that is something where, especially the german government has been extremely careful not to give anybody

that impression. but will that really happen now? that is something that only vladimir putin knows whether he would really risk such a nuclear strike. that was d w t political correspondent, nina hossa on the ground for us at ramstein air base. nina, thank you for your reporting. we can see it snowing and i don't freeze. thank you, nina, for all of your insights. let's turn now to our correspondent terry shawls, who is in brussels. hi terry. so you've also been following this press conference by the us defense secretary and they use join chief of staff and what will be the consequences that the decisions made in rom, shane the pledges for a new military aid for ukraine. what impact will that have on nato secretary general young stilton berg has been calling for allies to do just this, to increase both the quality and quantity of equipment that they're sending to

ukraine. and in fact, when, when countries have warned that their own stockpiles are running low, that they're a little bit worried that they would be able to protect the homeland stoughton berg has said, you know, what, send it to ukraine. so this has been clearly his priority and he will be pleased to hear of the of the new lists of arms that will be sent to ukraine. it just shows how the prevailing view of still timber, again, of many other countries in the alliance is that if you cream doesn't win this war. if we don't throw everything at the russian military than europe can't be safe either. this is not a view shared by all governments, but most governments, inside nato, nato countries were fairly quick in providing military a to ukraine. so why is it taking so long for certain governments to make a decision about tanks? why is the topic tanks this divisive and you saw that press conference? certainly everyone is obsessed with the question of tanks. now all allies are

sending something, most of them don't have these modern heavy tanks that president zalinski asked for once again today. and so far, only the u. k. has said it will send tanks. and of course, that puts a lot of pressure on the u. s. and on germany now, the united states says that it doesn't make sense to send the abrams tanks, that, that they're too heavy. they're too expensive, too hard to maintain it. that leaves germany in the spotlight as we heard from nina . as we heard at the press conference and the leopard choose, now one of the reasons why the leopard twos are so attractive besides the fact that of course, and much shorter distance to travel than the united states would have been sending their own. is that a dozen nato countries use the leopards and so you have more potential contributors? you have a greater expertise greater a availability of spare parts in this is the 2nd reason why germany is under so much pressure, not just to send its own supply of leopards,

which it has said might take a long time, but also to allow these other countries and in fact, just during this press conference, we saw reports that the czech republic and slovakia, who have ordered leopards from germany have said they're willing to send their supplies to ukraine as well. so in addition to poland and finland, some of the other countries that have already said this, more pressure piled on germany today. well, poland has been saying that it might decide to send a leper tanks without waiting for berlin's approval. what would be the consequences for nato unity if poland decided to go it alone? you know, it sounds on the surface like this would be a problem, of course, that you don't want the rules governing re export of military equipment to be broken. that would be, in fact, a pretty bad precedent. you don't want to countries producing weapons to lose all control over where they end up. but in this case, it's very interesting because we have seen so many countries that have the leopards,

or which have ordered the leopards wanting to be able to send them to ukraine. so it isn't exactly clear what the impact would be. and yesterday i asked the chairman of the joint military chiefs, if you crean needs these tanks militarily and he said russia has them. great needs them to so clearly opinion. is there a favor of sending the leopards that was terry shuns reporting from brussels? terry, thank you so much and that's the latest on d. w news. i'll have more headlines for you at the top of the hour. thanks for watching interest. the global economy, our portfolio d. w. business beyond. here's a closer look out the project. our mission to analyze the flight for market

dominance with d. w. business beyond just to you about the douglas hon. other get out of media. me global la la copier done, but again, i was copying to that and i could yoga or would you? yeah, but you order it up, jo, media dog, currently more people than ever on the move rolled wide in search of a better life to reduce men addiction methyl good on. and i gotta, you gotta get, find out about all the story info my grants. ah, the global elite pack up and go home as the world economic forum and today in davos, switzerland, we catch up on the highlights, weather correspondence also on the show, better beef here, how grazing cows on pastures can make their meat more environmentally friendly.

this is dw business. i'm janelle de malott on welcome. it's the final day of the world economic forums. annual gathering in davos, switzerland, where the world's elite gather to try to discuss the world's thorn. yes. issues from the wash russian war and ukraine for the climate crisis. it's been a week of speeches, deal making and agenda, pushing amid wider criticism of the forums. exclusivity and excess at a time of economic hardships for many. now our correspondent christie plaid send was there for all of it. and earlier i asked her what stood out to her the most from this week. oh politicians speaking this week, talked a lot about ukraine. we also heard from president's lensky himself. but the conversations here on the ground were quite different. now, last of those took place in may just a few months after the war in ukraine broke out. and that was a major topic of last years a j.