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FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (archive image) calls for more specific statements from Olaf Scholz
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Kay Nietfeld / dpa
For days, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also been under pressure from his own coalition to position himself on the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine.
In a press conference scheduled at short notice on Tuesday, he answered the question with a "yes, but": Scholz supports the fact that Ukraine is receiving heavy weapons from NATO countries.
However, they should not come directly from Germany.
Scholz promised Ukraine to finance direct arms deliveries from German industry.
Ukraine chose armaments from a list of offers that would be financed by the federal government.
These include, as before, anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft equipment, ammunition "and also anything that can be used in an artillery battle."
However, Scholz did not speak of artillery pieces themselves - in contrast to US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who each want to support Ukraine with additional artillery pieces (read all developments in the news update here).
Scholz also said that NATO partners who deliver Soviet-designed weapons to Ukraine could receive replacements from Germany.
"It's something we do together with many others who are following the same path as we are." Immediate usability and availability are important for weapon deliveries, said Scholz.
The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann welcomed the fact that Scholz had taken up this proposal, but criticized the chancellor again.
“You have to fight for freedom and human rights, you don't get them for free.
There was still not enough concrete information for that today.« Germany is still lagging behind, she wrote via Twitter with a view to other countries.
Criticism again from the Union
The Greens politician and chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, has continued to call for heavy weapons for Ukraine in view of Scholz's most recent statement.
"That was another step in the right direction, but it's really crucial that Ukraine now gets heavier weapons quickly," he told the editorial network Germany (RND).
“The offensive in eastern Ukraine has already begun.
And one shouldn't forget: Germany is the economically strongest country in the European Union, and that's why we should do a lot more." Germany must "supply more weapons directly and implement an oil embargo," said Hofreiter.
Strack-Zimmermann and Hofreiter had met Ukrainian MPs in Lviv together with Michael Roth (SPD), member of the Bundestag.
Criticism came again from the Union.
"Too little - too late," that remains the bitter balance after Scholz's press conference, wrote the deputy Union faction leader Johann Wadephul (CDU) on Twitter.
"Germany continues not to deliver heavy weapons, that is, leaves Ukraine in the lurch." Opposition leader Friedrich Merz retweeted the post.
Germany has so far supplied, among other things, Panzerfaust, anti-aircraft missiles and machine guns, as well as vehicles, night vision devices and protective equipment.
However, Ukraine is also demanding heavy weapons such as battle tanks, artillery pieces and attack helicopters.
On Good Friday it became known that the government intends to significantly increase funds for the purchase of military equipment for Ukraine.
Since then, Scholz critics have said that this does not replace the need to deliver weapons quickly.
ngo/dpa