Chancellor Olaf Scholz rebuffed accusations on Sunday that Germany was not leading western attempts to equip Ukraine with heavy weaponry to oppose Russia’s incursion, saying he’d rather be careful than make hasty decisions.

Scholz is under pressure at home and abroad to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons such as tanks and howitzers, as well as to support an urgent EU ban on Russian energy imports in order to deprive President Vladimir Putin of hard money that he uses to fund the conflict.

In a U-turn, Germany approved the sale of “Gepard” anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine on April 26, a move supported by 55 percent of Germans who stated in an opinion poll that Europe’s largest economy should sell such armaments to Ukraine.