WATCH: White House holds briefing as Zelenskyy calls on the world to send more tanks to Ukraine

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said it’s “understandable” why Ukraine is pushing for more tank capabilities, but it is up to supporting nations to make the decision to send them.

Watch the briefing in player above.

“I don’t think they need to hear anything specific from the United States other than what we’ve been saying, which is that these are sovereign decisions,” Kirby said at the White House on Friday. “I think we’ve been nothing but clear privately and publicly with Germany and all our allies and partners that if you can meet a need that the Ukrainians have, then we obviously want to see you do that.”

This statement comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with Western allies to send tanks that would help punch through Russian lines.

Defense leaders from nearly 50 countries discussed that possibility at a meeting in Germany on Friday, but no decision was made.

Ukraine needs at least 300 tanks to keep Russia from advancing in the Donbas and Zaporizhzhia province, as well as for a possible counteroffensive in the country’s southeast, analysts say. Such a number looks unlikely, for now.