 USA makes pressure on Germany for sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. USA makes pressure on Germany for sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Western Allies are stepping up consultations on whether to give modern heavy weaponry to Ukraine as Kiev calls for urgent deliveries of tanks in the face of Russia's incessant offensive where President Volodymyr Zelensky says the frontline situation remains tough. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his newly appointed German counterpart Boris Pistorius in Berlin on January the 19th a day before hosting a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the US military base in Rammstein to discuss further support including military aid for Ukraine with allies. Germany remains one of our most important allies. I'd like to thank the German government for all that it has done to strengthen Ukraine's self-defense. Austin said at the start of his meeting with Pistorius. Austin is expected to press Pistorius to allow for the transfer of German made tanks to Ukraine. US official said Zelensky said that he expected a key decision on arms supplies from our partners to result from the Rammstein meeting irked by the slow pace of negotiations between allies about the delivery of heavy weapons. Ukraine has been urging Western allies to speed up the delivery of tanks and air defense systems. We have no time. The world does not have this time. Andrei Yermak, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff, wrote on Telegram. The question of tanks for Ukraine must be closed as soon as possible. Just like the questions of additional air defense systems, he said, we are paying for the slowness with the lives of our Ukrainian people. It shouldn't be like this. Ukrainian military said that it continued to monitor Russian and Belarusian troop movements to Ukraine's border, but no offensive moves were detected so far. Kiev has repeatedly called on Berlin to send German manufactured Leopard 2 tanks considered to be among the best in the world. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking on January 18 to the Davos Forum, said Germany will support Ukraine for as long as necessary. We are continuously supplying Ukraine with large quantities of arms in close consultation with our partners, including artillery, air defense systems, and armored vehicles, Scholz said. But Scholz, despite criticism not just from Kiev, but also from NATO allies and members of his own coalition, has so far held out against sending Leopard 2 tanks. US Representative Gregory Meeks, the top-ranking Democratic on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told that Scholz told US congressman in Davos that Germany will supply heavy tanks to Ukraine if the United States sends tanks too.