Germany is in secret talks with India over the purchase of “several hundred thousand” artillery shells to be transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. writes about this Spiegel With reference to sources.
According to the publication, the negotiations are being kept secret because Indian officials do not want to spoil relations with Russia.
It is stated that such agreements, which are in the interest of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, can also be made with Arab countries, some of which have large ammunition reserves. There is information that German intelligence services are afraid that the Ukrainian army will exhaust its ammunition reserves before June.
Christian Freuding, head of the Ukrainian situation center of the German Ministry of Defense, explained that artillery and anti-aircraft ammunition are not widely available, so such negotiations should be resorted to. According to him, the German government will allocate 7 billion euros for the purchase of weapons to Ukraine in 2024.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in February stated New Delhi could act as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev, he said in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt.
Putin before discussed The situation around Ukraine with the Prime Minister of India.