US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had a conflict with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's closest adviser Wolfgang Schmidt over tanks for Ukraine, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports.
The publication writes that Washington is outraged by the fact that the German government publicly set conditions for the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
"Germany's NATO allies reacted with open misunderstanding or barely concealed anger to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision not to promise to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine yet. The tone in the US government was particularly harsh," the article says.
Austin tried in vain at the Ramstein meeting to obtain commitments regarding the delivery of the Leopard 2. It is not only a question of Germany's specific contribution in the form of battle tanks from the Bundeswehr arsenal, but, above all, of the export permit that Berlin must grant in accordance with German by the rules of arms export for tanks abroad.
Austin is said to have disagreed with Scholz's closest confidant, and the meeting between the officials is said to have been "tense." According to the media, Jake Sullivan, the US President's national security adviser, sharply criticized Germany's actions in a telephone conversation with the German Chancellor's adviser, Jens Pletner.