ah ah ah ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin. ukraine will have to keep waiting for the german may tax. it says it needs to spice. please have a key of for lin didn't not give the go ahead to deliver it's prize. the lever two's at a meeting of top western military officials will get the latest from the gathering at ramstein airbase.

ah, a marina evans dean. it's good to have you with us. western defense ministers and military officials meeting at the u. s. air base ramstein in germany have not reached a decision regarding the supply of leopard at 2 tanks to ukraine. hollands defends minister says the western allies would soon hold talks on the issue. addressing the defense officials at the meeting via video link ukrainian, president waterbury lensky, made an impassioned plea to his allies, to send more heavy weapons. pressure had been mounting on berlin to allow other countries like poland and finland to send german made lepper. 2 tanks to ukraine or to deliver the heavily armed battle tanks themselves. the host of the gathering us defense secretary lloyd austin, stressed that germany is

a steadfast partner. they are reliable i, they've been that way for, for a very, very long time. and i, i truly believe that they'll continue to be a reliable ally going forward. and not to mention a journey is host to 39000 of my troops and their families, and also 10000 civilians here. and so we've had a great relationship, but throughout all the years and i will continue to have a great relationship and germany will continue to exercise leadership going for let's bring in our correspondent terry shawls, who is in brussels. so terry, we heard quite a lot of announcements of additional military aid from ukraine made by western leaders at the meeting in ramstein. what consequences will these decisions for additional aid for ukraine have on the nato alliance?

well, nato, of course, is, is not itself participating in the conflict, but nevertheless, nato cheap instills. hamburg has constantly appealed to allies to send more equipment to ukraine, better equipment to ukraine. and so he'll be pleased to see the allies have have up to their contributions. now some of these countries have warned nato that their own stock piles are running low. that if they send all of their supplies to ukraine, they, they may not have enough for homeland defense. and remarkably stilton berg says, send it to ukraine anyway. you know, his job is to keep the nato allied territory safe and yet he feels that without ukraine winning this war, that would be an impossible task. so he wants everything countries can give to ukraine to be sent immediately. there. all nato countries have been very quick to send all sorts of military aid to ukraine. so why is it taking so long for governments to make a decision specifically about the tanks and why is the topic so divisive?

clearly tanks were at the top of everybody's agenda today, but you know, it has been this way with all of the advanced systems that have been sent to ukraine. of course, the early contributions were soviet made weapons. and gradually, the quality of weapons has become more and more advanced. remember that, that at 1st no one was going to send a patriot air defense system to ukraine than the u. s. that it would then germany said it would. so this is how it's going with tanks as well. ukraine has been asking for heavy tanks now for quite some time. and so far the only need, oh, i like to say it would do. so is the u. k. that puts a lot of pressure on the u. s. and on germany, the other 2 producers of heavy tanks, the u. s. says it's not practical to send em one abrams to ukraine. they're too expensive to maintain too difficult. and so that's why germany is clearly in the spotlight. now as we saw this news conference, all the questions were about germany and the leopard 2 tanks. and that's something

that, you know, nobody should envy the new defense minister pastorius getting on his 1st days on the job. surely a difficult task to consider what to do with all of this pressure. right? so just purely from a logistical perspective, it's far easier to supply the leopard tangs to ukraine from european countries. and we have been hearing from a number of them that they are in fact ready to deliver leopard tanks. so terry, what would happen if they just went ahead without berlin's consent, which is according to the contract, something that they would officially need to do. but what if they just don't we don't know yet. in fact, poland has explicitly threatened to do this. they say that we're going to be sending our leopard twos to ukraine. we're basically with, or without berlin's consent. now, nobody actually wants it to happen this way because all countries feel it's important to, to follow the contractual law. a weapons producing countries want to be able to have some say over where their products end up, that's considered a really

a safety issue. and so i think that this, this threat from poland is really just to put even more pressure on germany. but even during the meeting today at ramstein, you saw reports that both the czech republic and slovakia, who have just ordered leopards from germany say, were willing to send our shipments of leopard something like 30 of them straight to ukraine. so even if germany were to come to the decision that it didn't want to send its own leopards, it definitely is, is under a lot of scrutiny, a lot of pressure to allow other countries to do. so there are a dozen countries that use the leopard. so clearly there would be some very willing contributors there was terrace shells reporting from brussels. terry, thank you so much. we appreciate it. well, with all this, talk of the german lebrun, 2 tanks. let's now take a closer look at one exactly. makes that piece of combat hardware. so special name, it's the flagship of the german army, the leper to

a heavily armed battle tank with superior firepower weighing close to 60 tons. it can hit targets at a distance of up to 5 kilometers and protect itself and other vehicles from all kinds of threats. while still being agile and easy to maneuver. that's why it's widely regarded as the best of its kind. developed for the bonus van more than 40 years ago and built in germany, the leper too is now also used by many other countries, especially in europe, but also in canada. sheila cutter indonesia and elsewhere. more than 3500 units, i used world wide by some 19 nations. overtime the tank was upgraded and adjusted for use in specific environments. so several different versions have emerged and not all of them are still up to date. refurbishing them to make them fit for combat in ukraine takes time. so even with a political decision made,

it could take months until the leper to can make a difference on the frontline. let's bring in doctor jade mcglenn, an academic researcher and author of the upcoming book rushes war. i thank you for joining us. so what does the kremlin make of germany's hesitation when it comes to supplying these battles hangs to ukraine? good evening, marianna and the kremlin is no doubt happy. it makes their plan or anticipated spring offensive much easier and it will if you grain doesn't have enough time. and it leaves ukrainian truth vulnerable, of course, against against russian tanks and, and of course, the versions of killing an awful lot of ukrainian soldiers in the ukrainian population is only a fight of the size. so i think it's important to stress that one of the reasons you career months the tanks is of course, to you, to take back charity. but it will say for defensive reasons, you to, to save their,

their men, though that has of course, been a shift in crumbling rhetoric around, around trunks recently as well. that appears to be a softening of that position. why do you believe there is so much irritation being directed ad germany when it is, in fact, one of the biggest contributors of military ada to ukraine? that's an important point. gemini has provided an awful lot of military aid, actually around the same amount as britain. and yet it's clear that there are, if it is, it usually sticky difficulties with, with the perception and certainly a difference in perception in ukraine. and i think there are few reasons for this. i think 1st and foremost, it's been that there's a perceived that there's a sort of dragging of the feet and sat in public statements by some german officials have given the impression that germany doesn't really want to, to help. and i think this is unfair, but it also is reflective of

a broader lack of germans of power in ukraine in recent years, due to north stream to and the perceived closeness of some german and rushing business leads since 2014 and, and the 1st invasion and finally, i think there's a frustration that germany could perhaps be swayed in his decisions by need to ponder to russia. in recent days, we've seen mosque you talking about german tanks on russian territory, which of course plays to the domestic audience and the very strong willed boy to cope. and that exists in russian society. but of course it was a place to germany's walk out. and although it sounds like the politics of symbolism to ukrainians, you feel that they have forgotten some times of german. we'll go, this really matters. and as we know, this is a war. now today that's very much wanted by the ghosts of complex past. while it does appear, the western countries are more ready now than ever to send heavy weapons to ukraine

. and for its part, the kremlin said that these types of tanks would not change the course of the conflict. anna was also warning that the west would regret what had cause. it's a delusion that ukraine could win on the battle field. what do you make of these threats? this uneasy combination of a threat and then backing down and we've seen these sorts of shifts before where the criminal threatens this and not. and then it backs down the river, sweden and finland applying to nato or high mas or air defense systems, or ukraine. we taking territory, i would caution anybody from rushing to interpret this beauty as if russian talk is or bluster. i think that it's important to say show strength in unity and that came across very strongly in lloyd austin's press conference idea. but it was a to tread carefully and i think that you created with allies have done quite well

. he, they've slowly increased the support provided to ukraine quite gradually, so that it doesn't appear as escalator is perhaps actually is when you look, when you take a step back and look at the increase in the technical capabilities of what is now being provided to ukraine. and i think of course as well, the u. s. and the ticket has worked closely with china and india to, to pressure putin dissuade him from, from considering the nuclear option. you know, part of even wanted is if maybe when the war is over and i can, we can access the archives and probably when i'm very old. so if germany's fairly robust support, in fact, which is combined with a sort of rhetoric of, of not one foot dragging. whether or not that doesn't turn out to be a sort of deliberate strategy or part of a sort of piece to avoid escalation while still supporting ukraine. doctor jade nick lynn. thank you so much for all of your insights.

let's turn our attention now to some of the other stories making headlines this hour. germany's 3rd, ellen g gas terminal has arrived in the northern state of shirley's village. time economy minister roller topic was on hand to overseas delivery. once installed, a pipeline will deliver liquefied natural gas from tankers to germany's grid. it's part of berlin strategy to secure alternatives to russian gas. french president amana micron has announced plans to increase frances defense budget by a 3rd over the next 7 years. he made the statement on a visit to an air base and southwest friends, micron told military personnel he'd ask parliament to approve a new budget of 400000000000 euros through 2030. you as president joe biden has visited areas in california, hit by deadly rain and snowstorms at least 20 people died in the extreme. whether

biden met with people impacted by the damage to determine what additional federal funds are needed to help in rebuilding. he said that anyone down in climate change quote, must have been asleep in recent years. you're watching the double you news coming to you from berlin. reminder now of our top story. despite please, from here, there has been no decision made on supplying german leopard at 2 tanks to ukraine. u. s. defense secretary boyd austin, outlined the latest package of military aid after a meeting of western allies at ramstein airbase. it includes more air defense and artillery for key of bud. no leopards, collins defense minister said he was optimistic that germany would eventually allow the delivery of the text. that's the latest on the w news up next in d,

w, and use asia. long work hours leave little time for kids that a problem for many south korean workers will new lever rules help people choose babies over time in the office and leader new year in exile on conquerors in taiwan . fear going home for this annual family holiday. so they're making the best of it far from home. a colleague melissa chan had those stories and more after a short break. i'm marion evans team. i'll be back with more headlines at the top of the hour from me and the entire news team. thanks for watching issues with lots of great.