Germany’s foreign minister said that Berlin would not stop Poland from sending German-made tanks to Ukraine, while Poland’s prime minister vowed to build a coalition of nations willing to donate some of Europe’s most advanced weaponry — whether Germany participates or not.

Pressure has been growing on Germany to authorise the transfer of its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, which are stocked by many European countries and which Kyiv sees as crucial to its war effort as fighting is expected to intensify again this spring. Polish officials have been among the loudest voices urging Germany to sign off, which it is legally required to do as the tank’s maker.

“We will build a smaller coalition of countries ready to donate some of their modern equipment, modern tanks,” Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s Prime Minister, said in an interview published on Sunday.

“We will not passively watch Ukraine bleed to death.” Defence officials meeting in Germany said on Friday that they had failed to reach an agreement on the tanks with Berlin, which so far has resisted sending its own Leopards to Ukraine.