German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hosting French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin after tensions between the leaders recently flared over differences over how to support Ukraine.
After an open-air meeting at the chancellery, the two will be joined by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for urgent consultations on further European military support for Kiev, AFP reported.
Ukraine faced a series of battlefield setbacks in repelling Russian troops as its forces faced critical shortages of ammunition and Western military aid.
A massive $60 billion U.S. aid package remains blocked in Congress by Republicans, and President Joe Biden admitted the $300 million in temporary support announced on March 12 was "not enough."
It is up to Paris, Berlin and Warsaw to "mobilize all of Europe" to provide Ukraine with new aid, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
But simmering differences between Macron and Scholz threatened to undermine cooperation between the allies.
The debates between France and Germany "may have culminated in what we have seen in recent weeks, but there have been difficulties for quite a long time," said Nico Lange, an analyst at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). /BGNES
