some leopard tanks to ukraine while holding back the american-made abrams model. what s the difference, and can ukraine get some tanks before russia ramps up its war in the spring? plus, a new investigation opened in new mexico into a republican candidate s campaign possibly being laced with money from fentanyl sales just days after his arrest accused of plotting to shoot the homes of his democratic rivals. and julia roberts made her a household name. coming up, the real erin brockovich is here on a mission to help military families. welcome to the lead. i m jake tapper and we start with the world lead in what appears to be a standoff between the united states and germany when it comes to giving more heavy weapons to ukraine. more than 50 countries and organizations met at ramstein air base in germany led by top military leaders but the group failed to come to an agreement on one of ukraine s most pressing request, whether or not germany will send the leopard tanks to i
bakhmut in ukraine. and the reason this matters, jake, is because the fight for bakhmut, as has become the case with much of the war in ukraine, has become a war of attrition that military and intelligence officials increasingly say is really likely to turn on access to artillery ammunition, which side is able to sustain its supply of artillery ammunition the longest. one senior western intelligence official that i spoke to earlier today said in bakhmut alone, the two sides are spending up to multiple thousands of rounds of ammunition a day, which is just staggering. so what north korea is doing here is really helping wagner, and by extension the russian side, perpetuate this fight in bakhmut that our sources say has left this part of ukraine looking like they re done. will the weapons and ammunition from north korea make a difference in ukraine? not necessarily from a broader strategic perspective. the fight in bakhmut specifically is not seen, even if russia is able to
Europe? yes. but we can all do more and the united states and every other member of the udc can do more. reporter: more may be coming, whether germany approves it or not. on the sidelines of ramstein air base, 15 countries that use leopards met about equipping ukraine with tanks. poland has been the most vocal, threatening to send tanks, even without german approval, a rift in an alliance. over my 43 years in uniform, this is the most unified i ve ever seen nato. reporter: he said he is optimistic that germany will give approval soon. he points out it is only the new defense minister s second day on the job. as we heard from ukraine, time is something that is not on ukraine s side at the moment. oren lieberman at the pentagon, thank you so much. let s bring in evelyn farkas, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine and eurasia. thank you so much for being here. let s start with this new designation of the wagner group
The fight in bakhmut specifically is not seen, even if russia is able to successfully take bakhmut, is not seen as something that s going to change the overall trajectory of the war. but what does matter and the reason why u.s. and western officials are concerned, is the possibility that north korea may continue to try to provide these kinds of supplies, to send these shipments to the wagner group, to russia, and that s something that officials are going to want to do everything they possibly can to try to stop. and so the hope is, with this terrorism designation, that it s going to open the door to sanctions that are going to make it more difficult for the wagner group to do business internationally. and, remember, the wagner group doesn t just operate inside ukraine. they have operations across africa, as well as in syria. so this designation does have the potential to impact russian operations beyond the borders of ukraine, jake. thank you so much. this move and news regarding t
Back, which russia illegally annexed in 2014. what s the best way for the u.s. to help ukraine get crimea back into its country? provide longer-range artillery, provide a particular system that will allow the ukrainians to actually hit targets from ukrainian territory into well, crimea is ukrainian territory, but into heavily-guarded russian reinforced territory in ukraine. what i meant by that was if the russians don t control crimea, it makes it harder for them to control areas they control in the south and east of ukraine, other parts of ukraine in the donbas and in the south. evelyn farkas, good to see you. cnn s ben wedeman reports from the eastern front of ukraine where wagner mercenaries are breathing down the necks of ukrainian soldiers that badly need heavy weaponry, just the kind that germany is refusing to send. reporter: in the trenches