Poland asks Germany for tank OK; Ukraine targets corruption

Poland has officially requested permission from Germany to transfer its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine where they can help fight Russia's invasion, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak said Tuesday.

Berlin has received Warsaw's request, Błaszczak said in a tweet, though German officials did not immediately confirm that.

The development on possible tank deliveries came as Ukrainian authorities moved to crack down on corruption, with three senior officials announcing their exit Tuesday.

Błaszczak also appealed to Germany "to join the coalition of countries supporting Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks" — a reference to recent pressure on Berlin to send some of its own tanks. Germany has hesitated to take that step, despite Ukraine's pleas.

"This is our common cause, because it is about the security of the whole of Europe!" Błaszczak tweeted.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday called for the speedy delivery of new weapons to Ukraine, where a broad battlefield stalemate is expected to give way to new offensives in the spring.

"At this crucial moment in the war, we need to provide Ukraine with heavier and more advanced systems, and we need to do it faster," Stoltenberg said Tuesday after talks with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin.

In Kiev, meanwhile, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office quit Tuesday after President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to launch a staff shake-up amid high-level corruption allegations.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, asked to be relieved of his duties, according to an online copy of a decree signed by Zelensky and Tymoshenko's own social media posts. Neither gave a reason for the resignation.

Deputy Defense...