Many European countries are ready to hand over tanks to Ukraine but waiting for the permission of the country which produced and sold them.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated it at a joint press conference with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

"Many countries would send tanks but they are waiting for documents from the countries that have the right to them. Poland is ready, Finland, Portugal, Spain and a sufficient number of other countries are ready to send Ukraine even a small number of tanks. We were ready to do it earlier. We are all waiting for the consent of the country that has rights to certain licenses," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy was surely referring to Germany which should give its consent to sending Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

"The tank issue still holds significance. It depends on many reasons and, unfortunately, it does not depend on Ukraine's will. We pressure politically, but most importantly - we pressure with arguments: the courage and motivation of our military is not enough against thousands of Russian tanks. We need proper weapons," he added President.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki hinted earlier that Warsaw may hand over a company of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine without Berlin's consent if it waits too long for approval.

Since Leopard tanks are manufactured by a German defence concern, their transfer to non-NATO countries requires German consent.

Berlin stated that they had not yet received Poland's request for sending tanks to Ukraine.