Trudeau noncommittal on Ukraine's call for armour as allies announce tank donations

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday his government will provide more support to Ukraine but declined to join allies in announcing a donation of German-made tanks to fend off Russian forces.

One military expert says Germany's announcement that it's sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine will put pressure on Trudeau to follow suit.

"We will continue to be there to give whatever support we can to Ukraine," Trudeau said. "I won't be making an announcement today but I can tell you we're looking very, very closely at what more we can do to support Ukraine."

Trudeau made the remarks in Hamilton, Ont., where he is attending a cabinet retreat in advance of the return of Parliament.

For weeks, Ukraine has been asking its allies to supply it with up to 300 German-made Leopard 2 battle tanks. Several allies have those tanks in their inventories but were unable to donate them until Germany gave its approval for the vehicles to be transferred to a third party.

Earlier Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his country would provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 tanks from his own military.