By Idrees Ali and Sabine Siebold

Defence ministers hold meeting on Ukraine crisis at Ramstein Air Base© Thomson Reuters

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (Reuters) -The United States and its allies failed during talks in Germany to convince Berlin to provide its Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, a key demand from Kyiv as it tries to breath new momentum into its fight against Russian forces.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley hold a news conference in Germany© Thomson Reuters

As protesters in Berlin called on their government to provide the tanks, the talks among military leaders at Ramstein Air Base ended without any such agreement.

Berlin said it would move quickly to allow allies to transfer Leopards in their own arsenals to Ukraine, if a consensus was found. But even that appeared to be inconclusive.

As the talks concluded, Ukraine's President Volodymyr enskiy acknowledged Kyiv will have to keep fighting to ensure it has enough heavy armour. But he said the Ramstein meeting, which ended with billions of dollars in commitments, would strengthen Ukraine's resilience. 

Ukraine's President Zelenskiy addresses to defence ministers who hold meeting over Ukraine crisis, in Kyiv© Thomson Reuters

"Yes, we will still have to fight for the delivery of modern tanks, but every day we make it more obvious that there is no alternative to taking a decision about tanks," he said.

People protest claiming for combat tank delivery to support the Ukrainian military, in Berlin© Thomson ReutersChancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrat party is traditionally deeply sceptical of military involvements and wary of sudden moves that could cause Moscow to escalate further in Ukraine, insists Germany will only move in concert with allies, a position echoed by new defence minister Boris Pistorius.

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