Germany names new defence minister, faces pressure to send tanks to Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: Lower Saxony Interior Minister Boris Pistorius attends a news conference in Hanover, Germany November 18, 2015. German officials had concrete indications of a security threat that led them to call off Tuesday night's soccer game between Germany and the Netherlands, the premier of the state of Lower Saxony said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's government named Boris Pistorius as defence minister on Tuesday at a time of mounting pressure on Berlin from Western allies to allow Ukraine to use German-made tanks in the war with Russia.

Following several missteps, Christine Lambrecht resigned as defence minister on Monday, ahead of a conference on Friday at the U.S. military base in Ramstein on Western plans to provide Kyiv with more arms.