German Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes a statement after talks with European leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden, in Berlin, Tuesday, April 19, 2022. AP
Scholz has faced increasing pressure from within his own governing coalition and the main opposition party to deliver heavy weapons such as German Leopard tanks.
But Scholz said Germany and its partners in the Group of Seven industrial nations have concluded it makes more sense to send in systems already used in Ukraine, such as the Soviet-era weapons some NATO partners still have.
Western partners would help those countries with replacements.
After conferring with US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders on Tuesday, Scholz said ``all of us will continue to support Ukraine, financially and also militarily.''
He said the priority has been to deliver what can be supplied and used quickly, first from Germany's own limited supplies and then funding purchases by Kyiv, and that any unilateral decisions by Germany ``would be wrong.''
Scholz said that it's important to prevent the war from spreading to other countries, ``so NATO can't and won't intervene directly in the war.''
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