The German company that makes Leopard and Panther tanks wants to build a factory in Ukraine, report says

• Rheinmetall wants to build tanks in Ukraine, CEO Armin Papperger told the Rheinische Post.
• A plant would cost about $200 million and could produce 400 battle tanks a year.

A German arms giant wants to build a tank factory in Ukraine, the Rheinische Post reported Saturday.

"Talks with the Ukrainian government are promising and I'm hoping for a decision in the next two months," Armin Papperger, the CEO of Rheinmetall, told the newspaper.

Rheinmetall makes an array of weapons and ammunition, including the Leopard 2 tanks that Germany finally offered to send to Ukraine in late January. Its latest battle-tank is the Panther KF51.

The company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, but has factories in 33 countries.

Papperger told the Rheinische Post that a plant could be built in Ukraine for about 200 million euros ($212 million) and produce up to 400 Panthers a year.

Asked if it would be "dangerous" to set up an arms factory in "the middle of a war-zone," he responded: "No, anti-aircraft protection wouldn't be difficult."

Papperger believed that the West needed to increase its military support for Ukraine.

He told the publication: "The Ukrainians do not have the equipment today to fully retake their territory. Russia may not have as many resources as the West as a whole, but so far I have not seen that the leadership around Putin is making any concessions to its aggressive course towards Ukraine."

Papperger said Ukraine needed between 600 and 800 more tanks to win the war and he wanted to ramp up production as soon as possible.