The German government has reduced its arms supplies to Ukraine to a minimum in the past nine weeks. This was reported by the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, based on official documents.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fundamentally opposes sending heavy weapons to Kiev, pointing to agreements with Germany’s NATO allies. According to Welt, since the end of March, Germany has not been able to supply Ukraine with “any small arms worthy of mention”.
“In the period from March 30 to May 26, Ukraine received only two shipments of arms from the federal government,” the article says. In mid-May, Kyiv received 3,000 anti-tank mines and 1,600 special steerable mines from Germany. No other deliveries are known.
Zimtje Möller, State Secretary of the German Ministry of Defense, said that Berlin did not delay the delivery. According to him, Germany is merging with other Western countries in the position not to supply Ukraine with armored infantry vehicles (IFVs) and tanks serving in the European and American armies.
Earlier, the German agency DPA had reported that there were “unofficial” agreements between NATO countries to refrain from supplying certain weapons systems to Ukraine.
“As reaffirmed in alliance circles in Brussels on Wednesday, the risk of a direct military confrontation between NATO countries and Russia must be kept to a minimum. For example, there are fears that Russia may formally accept the supply of Western battle tanks and warplanes as an entry into the war and then take military retaliatory measures,” he said.
It was noted that until now they agreed not to supply Kiev with such weapons, but it cannot be ruled out that at some point both tanks and warplanes may be transferred.
Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, criticizes the German authorities for their slowness in arms procurement. In an interview with the Funke media group, a Ukrainian diplomat expressed disappointment that “the earliest promised 15 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns could be delivered at the end of July, and another 15 only at the end of August.” According to him, Germany can supply Ukraine with at least 130 Marder armored vehicles and 88 Leopard 1 tanks.
At the same time, Ukraine has recently received some weapons from Western countries. For example, on May 27, the Military Informer Telegram channel reported that the Ukrainian artillery received a 155 mm FH70 howitzer from Italy.
The FH70 howitzer was created in 1969 by experts from Great Britain, Germany and Italy. The gun is equipped with a Volkswagen auxiliary power unit, which allows it to act independently at speeds up to 16 km/h.
The FH70 entered service in 1978. The firing range of the standard ammunition howitzer is 24 km, and the cannon can fire up to six rounds per minute.
Source: Gazeta
