Western allies are stepping up consultations on whether to give modern heavy weaponry to Ukraine as Kyiv calls for urgent deliveries of tanks in the face of Russia's incessant offensive, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says the frontline situation remains "tough." U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with his newly appointed German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Berlin on January 19 a day before hosting a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the U.S. military base in Ramstein to discuss further support -- including military…