WARSAW, Poland — Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced his country will request Germany’s approval for the planned transfer of some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Poland is also in talks with a group of Western European nations, including the U.K., to jointly supply a large number of Leopard 2s and other tanks to its neighbor a
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Germany’s newly appointed defense minister, Boris Pistorius, on Thursday to push Berlin to approve the transfer of German-made tanks for Ukraine to fight Russia’s invasion. Germany won’t send or authorize the transfer of its modern Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine until the U.S. agrees to give its
WASHINGTON — Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu met with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken in Washington on Wednesday to secure a $20 billion arms sale that includes 40 Lockheed Martin Block 70 F-16 fighter jets as well as upgrades to Turkey’s current F-16 fleet. But the U.S. State Department has yet to formally notify Congress of the pote
WASHINGTON ― Weeks before the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Western officials agreed to send a flurry of offensive armored vehicles to Ukraine’s battlefields that they previously refused to deliver for fear of provoking Russia — heralding a new phase of international support for Kyiv. Plans to send yet heavier equipment designe
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Dept. cleared a possible sale of M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks to Poland, according to a Dec. 6 announcement by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Congress was notified Tuesday of the potential deal, estimated to cost $3.75 billion. Poland intends to buy 116 Abrams tanks on top of an agreement the country signed in
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Days after Sweden announced its largest military aid package yet for Ukraine, its lead defense officials are positioning the Nordic country’s contributions as an example of what to expect from Stockholm as a NATO member. Ramping up aid from portable anti-tank weapons to heavy-duty anti-aircraft systems was just the latest in
HELSINKI — Nordic governments are exploring a number of joint initiatives to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia, including proposals for shared weapons buys, coordinating arms donations and expanding logistics cooperation to safely transport military equipment to the war-torn country. The discussions emanate from a meeting of Nordic defense m
The European Commission is exploring legal options to confiscate Russian state and private assets as a way to pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, according to a document seen by POLITICO. The goal would be "identifying ways to strengthen the tracing, identification, freezing and management of assets as preliminary steps for potential confiscation," a
“Something’s gotta happen by then, otherwise we’ll all walk,” Ferguson said. Ferguson predicts lawmakers will exercise their ability to step in before then — though it remains unclear whether they will impose the recommendations of a presidentially appointed emergency board as employers want; impose the unions’ respective tentative agreements like
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia ― Top defense officials in Europe say arms shortages among Ukraine’s Western allies are forcing difficult conversations about how to balance support for Ukraine with concerns Russia may target them next. NATO members that have sent billions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment are discussing what stockpile levels they need
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak has announced that, in the aftermath of last week’s fatal missile strike on Polish soil, he has “received with satisfaction” the offer of his German counterpart, Christine Lambrecht, who said Germany could deploy some of its Patriot launchers to protect its neighbor’s skies. “I will propo
MILAN, Italy — Amid rising tensions with Kosovo, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić's recent order to shoot down all UAVs found in no-fly zones and near military facilities, Iranian officials suggested that Serbia made a formal bid to purchase that country’s drones. If true, the purchase could make Belgrade the largest military drone operator i
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the manufacture of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile. Lockheed Martin makes the weapon. WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department cleared $700 million in a possible foreign military sale to Switzerland, along with other sales to Lithuania and Belgium, as the neutral European country wo
HELSINKI — Finland has refuted any possibility that the currently unaligned Nordic state will consider hosting nuclear weapons on its territory once a member nation of NATO. The rebuttal comes as Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s government presented new proposals to reinforce the country’s 830 mile (1,340 km) border with Russia. Underlining the need to
Correction: A previous version of this story misinterpreted a BAE Systems statement. FORT WORTH, Texas — On a mile-long production line in Fort Worth, Texas, the next wave of the U.S. and allied militaries’ F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleets takes shape. Dozens of nascent fighters, coated almost entirely in sea-green primer, work their way north thro