France and Germany commit to alliance amid Ukraine tank tension

Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Paris to celebrate 60 years of post-war co-operation

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, welcomes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the Elysee Palace in Paris on Sunday. EPA

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron met on Sunday to recommit to the alliance their nations created after the Second World War, despite strain caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Despite mounting pressure on Berlin to supply Ukraine with German Leopard tanks, Mr Scholz stopped short of any pledge, instead insisting all allies must work together.

Although France is already sending light tanks to Ukraine, Mr Macron made it clear that "nothing is excluded" on the possible delivery of French-made Leclerc heavy tanks.

Mr Scholz was visiting Paris to celebrate 60 years of post-war co-operation at a time when the Franco-German relationship, often described as the motor of Europe, has come under unusual strain.

On top of French impatience with Germany's caution on Ukraine, differences on nuclear power, budget problems and a possible lack of personal chemistry between the two men have caused tensions.

But in a speech at the capital's Sorbonne University, Mr Scholz said upholding strong ties was key for the continent.

Emmanuel Macron's 2022 - in pictures

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in February. AFP

Mr Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hold a joint press conference in February in Kyiv. Getty

Mr Macron in Paris in April after polls close in first round of voting in the French presidential election. Getty

Mr Macron and French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen take part in a live debate in April. EPA

Mr Macron is swarmed by media and residents in Saint-Denis on the campaign trail in April. Getty

Macron supporters at Champs de Mars in Paris in April waiting for election results. Getty

Mr Macron and wife Brigitte celebrate victory over Ms Le Pen in April. Getty

Parisians protest against Mr Macron's re-election. Getty

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Mr Macron at Brandenburg Gate in May. Getty

Then-Italy Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Mr Macron and Mr Scholz on a night train travelling to Kyiv in June. Getty

Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Macron in Kyiv in June. Getty

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Mr Macron on the first day of the G7 summit in Germany in June. Getty

Mr Johnson, US President Joe Biden, Mr Scholz, Mr Macron and Mr Draghi meet during the summit. Getty

Mr and Mrs Macron arrive at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in September. Getty

British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Mr Macron at Prague Castle, Czech Republic, in October. Getty

Mr Macron and new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Cop27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in November. Getty

Mr Biden, Mr Scholz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Mr Macron, Mr Sunak, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken talk about a missile strike in Poland at the G20 meeting in November in Nusa Dua, Indonesia. Getty

"The future, like the past, rests on co-operation between both our countries as the driving force of a united Europe," he said.

Mr Macron said: "Germany and France, because they cleared the path to reconciliation, must become pioneers to relaunch Europe.

"We are two souls in the same body."

Germany has so far resisted Ukrainian pleas for the Leopard 2 tanks, with reports suggesting it would only agree if the US followed with a similar move.

Mr Scholz said that the country had always acted "in close co-ordination with our friends and allies".

He refused to be drawn on the request for the tanks.

"We fear that this war is going to last for a long time," Mr Scholz said. "We are only going to act in close co-ordination."

Olaf Scholz's first year in power - in pictures

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former chancellor Angela Merkel during the official transfer of office on December 8, 2021 in Berlin. Getty Images

Olaf Scholz takes his oath of office from Bundestag President Baerbel Bas at the Bundestag on December 8, 2021. Getty Images

Olaf Scholz telephones US President Joe Biden, who congratulated him on taking office, in December 2021. Getty Images

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Olaf Scholz in Warsaw, Poland, in December 2021. Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Olaf Scholz hold a meeting over Ukraine security at the Kremlin, in Moscow, in February. AFP

Mr Scholz receives a standing ovation after a speech on Russia's invasion of Ukraine during a meeting of the German federal parliament in February. Getty Images

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a joint press conference with Mr Scholz in the Downing Street briefing room in London in April. Getty Images

Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron stand in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag in May. Getty Images

Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron and Mr Scholz on a night train travelling to Kyiv, Ukraine, in June. Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Mr Scholz and Mr Macron in Kyiv, Ukraine, in June. Getty Images

Olaf Scholz receives a model of an Airbus Zero E aircraft from trainees on the first day of the ILA Berlin 2022 air show in June. Getty Images

From left: Mario Draghi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US President Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz, Boris Johnson, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Emmanuel Macron and European Council President Charles Michel at the three-day G7 summit in Germany in June. Getty Images

Mr Scholz in August with a Siemens gas turbine intended for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in Russia. Getty Images

Mr Scholz being shown a Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank during his visit to the arms-maker Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Germany promised Ukraine 30 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft tanks. Getty Images

Mr Scholz and interim Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid after talks at the Chancellery in Berlin in September. Getty Images

Mr Scholz while visiting the Bundeswehr army training centre in Ostenholz in October. Getty Images

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Mr Scholz meet on the sidelines of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El Sheikh in November. AFP

But Mr Macron, who this month agreed to send French-made AMX-10 RC light tanks to Ukraine, indicated that France was considering sending the heavy tanks to Ukraine.

"As for the Leclercs, I have asked the Defence Ministry to work on it. Nothing is excluded," he said.

Mr Macron said any effort to send the hardware to help repel the Russian invasion should be decided and co-ordinated "collectively" with allies including Germany.

He said any joint decision on whether to send heavy tanks depended on three criteria.

They were that it did not "escalate" the conflict, that it provided "real and effective support" to Kyiv's forces, including in view of how long it would take to train Ukrainians, and that it "not weaken our own defence capabilities".

Drones and weapons supplied to Ukraine - in pictures

Turkeysold its Bayraktar TB2 armed drones to Ukraine. They can fly at an altitude of 7,500 metres and swoop down to attack targets. AFP

The US also gave 700 of its Switchblade kamikaze drones. AP

Cheap commercial drones like the DJI Mavic series have been modified in Ukraine. AFP

Germany will follow the US in providing a Patriot missile defence system, pictured above, to Ukraine. Reuters

FIM-92 Stinger rockets have been donated to help Ukrainian infantry engage aircraft and drones. The shoulder-launched missiles can shoot down aircraft. Photo: US Army

Germany donated 25 Flakpanzer Gepard all-weather-capable self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. AFP

The High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or Himars, can simultaneously launch several precision-guided missiles. The US has given Ukraine projectiles with a range of about 130 kilometres. EPA

M777 howitzers and about 300,000 shells have been donated to give Ukraine an accurate artillery platform with a range of 50 kilometres. EPA

Ukraine has been sent at least 5,000 of the anti-tank weapons known as NLAWs. These shoulder-launched rockets have proved deadly in the field. PA

Ukrainian troops have also received thousands of Javelin anti-tank missiles. Bloomberg

Poland and the Czech Republic sent Russian-made T72 tanks, which Ukraine has used for decades, to ease integration and cut down training time. EPA

France as announced its plan to give AMX-10 RC “scout tanks” to Ukraine. "This is the first time that western-made armoured vehicles are being delivered in support of the Ukrainian army," a French official said. AFP

Shortly after the French, the US said it would send Bradley fighting vehicles to provide "a level of firepower and armour that would bring advantages on the battlefield”. Reuters

The UK sent their phased-out Saxon armoured vehicles. They found new life protecting infantry units in transit and dealing with tough off-road conditions. Getty Images

Denmark has supplied Harpoon anti-ship launchers to help Ukraine defend its coasts. AFP

The US sent 20 Soviet and Russian made Mi-17 helicopters to Ukraine that had initially been bought for the Afghan government in 2010. AP

Germany has also supplied its latest version of the IRIS-T air defence system designed to shoot down missiles at altitudes up to 20 kilometres. Getty Images

Ukraine has also been given thousands of small arms, bullet proof vests, medical kits, litres of fuel, granades and other weapons systems. Reuters

Adding to the pressure on Berlin, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki of Poland described Germany's attitude as "unacceptable".

"Innocent people are dying every day," Mr Morawiecki told the Pap news agency.

On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania urged Germany "to provide Leopard tanks to Ukraine now".

Germany's Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Sunday that her government would not stand in the way if Poland wanted to send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have been calling on western allies to supply them with the modern German-made tanks for months, but Berlin has so far held back from sending them or allowing other Nato countries to do so.

Asked what would happen if Poland sent its Leopard 2 tanks without German approval, Ms Baerbock told France's LCI TV: "For the moment the question has not been asked, but if we were asked we would not stand in the way."

The 1963 Elysee Treaty signed between post-Second World War German and French leaders Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle provided for matters ranging from military co-operation to youth exchanges.

Since then, France and Germany have often built the foundation for joint crisis response in Europe, and other nations are looking to them again now.

"We will continue to provide Ukraine with all the support it needs for as long as necessary, together as Europeans to defend our European peace project," Mr Scholz said at the Sorbonne.

Russia and Ukraine conflict latest - in pictures

A tank, seen left, fires a round in Soledar, a town in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters

Tank fire in Soledar, Donetsk. Reuters

Firefighters work to put out a blaze at a Kharkiv fireworks storage site after it was struck by a Russian missile. Getty

Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, visits his troops on the frontline in Soledar, Donetsk. Reuters

A Ukrainian flag attached to a tank flutters in the wind in Bakhmut. Reuters

A specialist from an emergency crew works on a residential building in Donetsk that was damaged in recent shelling. Reuters

A missile fragment left by shelling in Russian-controlled Donetsk. AP

Residents remove debris and carry their belongings out of a building destroyed by recent shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Reuters

Ukrainian forces fire an anti-aircraft weapon as Russia's attack on the frontline city of Bakhmut continues. Reuters

A car drives past a destroyed building purported to have been used as temporary accommodation for Russian soldiers, dozens of whom were killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Makiivka, Russian-controlled Ukraine. Reuters

The site of a temporary barracks for Russian soldiers in Makiivka, which was destroyed in a Ukrainian missile attack. Reuters

A Ukrainian serviceman carries his injured comrade from the battlefield to a hospital in the Donetsk region. AP

Smoke rises after shelling in Soledar, the site of heavy battles with Russian forces in the Donetsk region. AP

Top issues at the meeting also included climate and energy, and European competitiveness faced with a new wave of "buy-American" subsidies in the US.

Leaders across Europe fear distortions in transatlantic trade from the Inflation Reduction Act, which will pour billions of dollars into American-made, climate-friendly technology.

After securing backing from Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez this week, Mr Macron said France and Germany had agreed on a "common line" in an "ambitious and rapid" European response to the American subsidies.