Mr. Podolyak, however, was optimistic that Mr. Scholz’s government would eventually allow the Leopards to be transferred to Ukraine.Poland and Finland have already expressed their willingness to send some of their own Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine, if and when Germany drops its objection.He said that Ms. Anand is in close contact with Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov about addressing Ukraine’s most pressing security needs.While Germany has been repeatedly accused over the past year of dragging its heels on providing military support for Ukraine, Mr. Podolyak said he expected Mr. Scholz would soon give the necessary approval.Amid growing concern that Russia is mustering hundreds of thousands of fresh troops for a large-scale spring offensive, Mr. Podolyak said Ukraine needed between 250 and 400 NATO-standard tanks – which are technically far superior to the Soviet-era T-72s Ukraine has largely relied on thus far – to seize the initiative and force an end to Russia’s bloody invasion."