Germany’s defence minister acknowledged Friday that countries like Canada — and to a lesser extent Ukraine — are in a tough spot when it comes to maintaining older variants of the Leopard 2 main battle tank and keeping them in the field.

Germany is one of the largest providers of aid to Ukraine and has already delivered dozens of Leopard tanks, artillery systems, and air defense systems. At the same time, Berlin has repeatedly helped Kyiv by supplying energy and humanitarian equipment.