From Leopard tanks to longer-range bombs, NATO scrambles to arm Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday vowed to defeat Ukraine and emerge victorious in the ongoing war. The West is certainly looking at this as a renewed Russian tempo in its fight against Kyiv.Russia has also warned of an "extremely dangerous" escalation in case NATO continues to arm Ukraine with deadly missiles and lethal battle tanks.

US and European allies, though reluctant for some time, now seem to be again defiant in their pursuit to back Ukraine with more powerful weaponry so Kyiv can reclaim the territories it lost last year.

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US had been extending defence aid to Ukraine while imposing harsh sanctions on Russia. German government also approved the delivery of Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine from its industrial stocks and their delivery could happen anytime soon, Munich newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

German automotive and arms manufacturer Rheinmetall and military technology group Flensburger Fahrzeugbau Gesellschaft (FFG) have also expressed their willingness saying if Kyiv is ready, they can recondition the Leopard tanks and send them to Ukraine.

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Meanwhile, Berlin is also in talks over purchasing back 15 Gepard tanks from Qatar, which the country purchased to secure World Cup Stadiums, to send to Kyiv.In a statement, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, "The Gepards have proven themselves very well in the war in Ukraine. If we could get more from partners here, that would definitely help the Ukrainians."

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Ahead of the 24th summit of the European Union and Ukrainian leaders that is due to begin in Kyiv, the US agreed to send longer-range bombs to Ukraine to strengthen Ukraine's offensive.These ground-launched small-diameter bombs are part of a $2.17 billion aid package which is expected to be announced on Friday.

Moreover, the UK defence minister on Thursday also said that he did not rule out supplying Ukraine with fighter jets while cautioning they would not be a "magic wand" in the war.

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