German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has decided to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, and allow other countries to do the same, reports in Germany say.

Leopard 2s are made in Germany and Berlin needs to approve their export.

Germany has been hesitant to send its own, or allow other nations to send theirs, over concerns it could escalate the conflict with Russia.

Now, after international pressure, Scholz has decided to send at least 14 Leopard 2s, German outlets say.

A company is usually 14 tanks, the same number of Leopards Poland wants to send, and the same number of Challenger 2 tanks the UK has already committed to Ukraine.

At least 16 European and NATO countries have Leopard 2 tanks, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Not all will send tanks to Ukraine, but Scholz's apparent decision now means they can, should they wish.

The news of Scholz's decision was broken by Der Spiegel in Germany, citing government sources, before being seemingly confirmed elsewhere.

There has been no official statement from the German government yet. The chancellor is due to address the German parliament on Wednesday morning.

However, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the liberal FDP party, who chairs the defense committee of the German parliament, welcomed the reports.

"The decision was tough, it took far too long, but in the end it was unavoidable," she said, adding that it would come as a relief to "the battered and brave Ukrainian people".

Allied nations had become frustrated at what they perceive as German reluctance to send the armored vehicles in recent days.

Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that Germany had a "special responsibility" to support Ukraine, having built up "huge Russian funds" before the war by buying its gas.

He also accused Germany of "delaying, dodging, acting in a way that is difficult to understand".

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that the United States could send a significant number of Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine, with an announcement possible this week.

The Ukrainian president's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on Tuesday called on Western countries to give Kyiv hundreds of tanks to form a "crushing fist" against Russia.

"Tanks are one of the components for Ukraine to return to its 1991 borders," he wrote on Telegram after the reports emerged of Germany agreeing to send tanks. (Source: BBC News)

Story Date: January 25, 2023