According to "SZ", the United States is demanding that the Chancellery not only allow other countries to supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks, but also supply them itself. The federal government initially did not want to comment on the report on Thursday at the request of the AFP news agency.

Scholz has so far resisted the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. The argument he used was that Germany shouldn't go it alone. In the meantime, however, Poland and other EU and NATO countries want to supply their own Leopard tanks to the Ukraine and are pushing for the necessary approval from the manufacturer country Germany.

On Thursday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will come to Berlin for talks with his new German counterpart, Boris Pistorius. On Friday, the two ministers will meet again at the US base in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate.