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Jürgen Trittin
Photo: Jelinek, Hubert / imago images / Hubert Jelinek
The SPD has already opposed it.
Green leader Robert Habeck is now receiving criticism from his own party for his proposal to deliver defensive weapons to Ukraine.
The former party leader of the Greens, Jürgen Trittin, has rejected the proposal.
"Arms exports to Ukraine would contradict our principle that we do not export arms to war zones," Trittin told the editorial network Germany (RND).
Habeck had spoken out in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
"In my opinion, weapons for defense and self-defense are difficult to deny Ukraine, defensive weapons," he told Deutschlandfunk during a visit to Ukraine.
Demands from Ukraine for arms deliveries are justified.
Foreign politician Trittin contradicts this: »The previous common European position is that the conflict in Ukraine can only be resolved politically and not militarily.
Arms deliveries are further undermining the implementation of the Minsk Agreement. «He, however, advocated strengthening the intelligence capabilities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Nor could weapons be clearly defined as defensive.
"Any defense weapon can also be used offensively."
The SPD had previously been critical of Habeck's proposal.
"The demand to deliver so-called defensive weapons to Ukraine is frivolous and underlines once again how illiterate and insincere the Greens are at the moment," said SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich to SPIEGEL.
In eastern Ukraine there has been a conflict between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government troops for seven years, in which UN estimates indicate that more than 13,000 people have been killed.
After a worsening this spring, the Ukrainian government demanded arms deliveries from the west.
asc / dpa