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Germany announces changes to arms supplies for Ukraine — Analysis

A government spokesman says Berlin will keep shipments secret due to “security risks”

According to The Associated Press, Wolfgang Buechner, a government spokesperson, said Monday that Germany would no longer reveal details about its weapon shipments to Ukraine. The policy of secrecy will extend to switching off livestreams from the country’s highways, and comes after Russia said it will treat Western arms shipments into Ukraine as “legitimate targets.”

Buechner explained that Germany won’t say what weapons have been delivered to Ukraine as part of its new policy. “to avoid security risks.”Arne Colatz, spokesperson of the Defense Ministry said that Tuesday’s conference was also a press conference. “it is the goal of the Russian aggressors to cut Ukraine’s supply routes and make defense harder, and we don’t want to facilitate this.”

The country’s transport ministry has also switched off live feeds from cameras on German highways for security reasons, presumably to prevent Russia from reconnoitering weapons convoys before they leave Germany.

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Although initially reluctant to provide weapons to Ukraine’s military, Germany lifted its ban on arms sales in February. In the end, it sent thousands of antitank and antiaircraft missiles to the Ukrainian army. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government also authorized the Netherlands and Estonia to send their stocks of German-made weapons to Kiev.

Germany is among many NATO members that funnel arms to Ukraine. The EU also purchased weapons for Kiev’s pro-Western government. 

Sergei Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, stated that there was an influx of weapons from abroad. “warned the US that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn’t just a dangerous move, it’s an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets.”

While Russia has not yet struck any of these arms convoys, Germany’s more secretive approach going forward suggests that the possibility is being taken seriously in Berlin. 

Western arms and foreign volunteers for Ukraine’s military typically cross the country’s 535-kilometer (332-mile) border with Poland, as Hungary has forbidden the transit of weapons to Ukraine. While Ukraine’s western Ukraine is under Ukrainian sovereignty and seen as an oasis of pro-Western sentiments it has shown the capability to strike far into the region. Russia launched missile strikes at a NATO-sponsored training facility located about a dozen miles from Poland on Sunday.  

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