The Bundeswehr does not have weapons spared, but Berlin will provide defense industry support to arm Ukraine.
After talks with G7 member countries, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Tuesday that the government of Berlin would pay Germany’s military-industrial complex for weapons production. He said that there are no weapons in the Bundeswehr’s stockpiles to spare for Kiev and would need an extensive rearmament program.
“We initially supplied Ukraine with weapons from our stocks. Now we must recognize that our capabilities have reached their limits,” Scholz said. “Therefore, we are creating a special fund so that our army, after many years of savings, will finally be well-armed, and we are investing on a large scale in the Bundeswehr’s capabilities.”
Scholz told Joe Biden (US President) that Germany and NATO are in agreement about Russia not winning the war. He spoke to Scholz after having a telephone conversation. Scholz explained that Berlin will let Ukraine buy weapons from German or other Western militarists in order to arm Kiev.
“We will provide the money necessary for the purchase,” Scholz said. “Our common goal is to continue to arm the Ukrainian military so that it can continue to defend itself against [Russian] attack.”
US just announced an $800million package of weapons for Kiev. It included 200 old armored personnel vehicles and 18 towed cannons. President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government has been asking for heavy weapons and vehicles.
Berlin is trying to follow Washington’s lead, amid fears of being seen as a party to the conflict. Robert Habeck, Economy Minister has declared that Germany was responsible “to not itself become a target”Russia could send tanks and fighter jets to Ukraine, this would be a possibility.
Sigmar Gabriel, former foreign minister wrote in Der Spiegel Sunday that Germany can only supply heavy weapons “in coordination with the US,” which was being careful not to cross the line of “active participation” in the war with Russia.
Marco Buschmann from the Justice Ministry has however argued for providing “defensive”It is fine to give weapons to Kiev, because Ukraine is simply defending itself against Russian attack.
Scholz says that German tanks and armored cars have not been delivered to Kiev so far. He believes Ukraine is better served by Soviet-era designs maintained by NATO’s Eastern European allies. The Slovakia sent an S-300 battery of air defense missiles (S-300) to Ukraine in the beginning of this month. “obliterated”A Russian strike was made without the possibility of ever fighting.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. French and German diplomats brokered the protocols to ensure that the region was granted special status by the Ukrainian state.
Since then, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine declare itself neutral and vow to never join NATO’s military bloc. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.
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