Application submitted - then radio silence: Has the Chancellery been blocking weapons for Ukraine for months?
Created: 08/19/2022 15:39
By: Victoria Krumbeck
Ukrainian diplomats have been asking the German government for more arms deliveries for weeks.
But Scholz and Lambrecht do not react.
Munich - Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Germany has been repeatedly criticized.
A repeated reason: The arms deliveries to Ukraine are only progressing to a limited extent.
A media report now seems to show new annoyances between Kyiv and Olaf Scholz's traffic light government: Ukrainian diplomats have allegedly been asking the Defense Ministry for more heavy artillery for several weeks.
However, there has been no commitment from the federal government.
Ukraine has been asking for more weapons for weeks - the government blocks
For ten weeks now, Ukrainian diplomats have been trying to get more military support from the federal government, reports Die
Welt
, citing government circles in Kiev.
Meetings between the Ministry of Defense and Ukrainian diplomats have taken place at regular intervals since June.
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) also took part in meetings.
The Ukrainian side asked Germany for further arms deliveries in the form of heavy artillery.
Olaf Scholz visits President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine in June.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
The Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Mars II multiple rocket launcher are of great interest. Germany has so far delivered ten self-propelled howitzers and three multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine.
It was not until the beginning of August that the Ukrainian minister Selenskyj thanked for the artillery reinforcement.
Ukraine receives an offer of weapons from Germany - but Scholz apparently does not give the "go".
However, Kyiv also asked for approval for the export of battle tanks and armored personnel carriers requested by the industry.
In April, Ukraine received offers from the Rheinmetall arms group worth a total of 268 million euros.
This included 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and 88 Leopard 1 main battle tanks, including training and ammunition.
The export application was made, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) did not react.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, spoke to Lambrecht last week, the report said.
Resnikov repeated the request for more arms deliveries.
According to the information, the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, also spoke about the topic in a telephone call with the foreign policy advisor to the Chancellor, Jens Plötner.
On request, the Chancellery stated that confidential discussions could “basically not be reported on”.
Weapons deliveries for Ukraine: Bundeswehr needs weapons for itself
"Our requests were always all recorded and written down," sources from Ukrainian government circles told the
world.
But the talks in the Ministry of Defense have “so far had no effect”.
The Federal Government cited its own needs as the reason for the negative attitude.
The Ministry of Defense had actually repeatedly stated publicly that it needed a lot of equipment for the Bundeswehr.
Germany must be able to meet the alliance's obligations on NATO's eastern flank, it said.
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The Ukrainian interlocutors told the newspaper that no response was received to the objection that the device was provided by the defense industry.
There is no political decision on the matter, the federal government is said to have said.
When asked, a ministry spokeswoman told Die
Welt
that the defense ministry was “in contact with the Ukrainian side on many levels.
The goal for us is the best possible support for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggressor.
(vk)
