In matters of support to Ukraine, Germany will act by focusing on its allies. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, answering the questions of citizens in Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), said that Berlin will not act alone.
According to the news of T-Online, he especially emphasized that the German authorities do not intend to supply Ukraine with weapons that can be used on the territory of the Russian Federation. Scholz claims that Washington adheres to the same policy regarding military aid to Kiev.
“I think this principle [отказа от поставок Украине оружия для ударов по РФ] everyone else should follow. “We will not act alone and will always be guided by the actions of our allies,” said the German Chancellor.
Scholz pointed out that after the start of Russia’s special operation against Ukraine, Germany abandoned the principle of not supplying weapons to the conflict zone. At the same time, he promised that the German side would approach Ukraine to “cautiously and prudently” support to prevent the conflict from escalating.
“Our aim in everything we do is to support Ukraine, this will prevent the escalation of this war, which will result in a war that will not be between Russia and Ukraine, but will be a completely different war,” Scholz said.
Earlier, during a trip to a military training ground in the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, Scholz denied accusations of his government’s indecision in supporting Ukraine. “Germany has already surrendered [Украине] many effective and heavy weapons,” the chancellor said, referring to the Mars MLRS and the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers.
He assured that Berlin would continue to support Ukraine “with financial means and weapons”.
At the same time, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock admitted in an interview with the ZDF television channel that the German Armed Forces is experiencing “absolute shortages of its own stocks” and that the supply of weapons to Ukraine is “a fine line”. On this line, the German authorities marched “for weeks and months.”
“We want to support him” [Украину] with everything we have militarily, but unfortunately, the situation here is such that we have an absolute shortage of our own reserves,” Burbock said.
For this reason, the Minister stated that the German authorities have created a special fund of 100 billion Euros for the armed forces, adding that “for the next few years”, “the military industry should produce materials especially for the military industry”. Ukraine.”
Burbock believes we need to be prepared for the fact that the conflict in Ukraine “could continue next year”. He therefore believes that Berlin should not only provide short-term support to Kiev, but also plan for medium-term aid. In this context, Scholz announced its support for 2023.
Germany plans to supply the Ukrainian army with more than 500m euros in additional weapons, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
It was noted that three additional IRIS-T air defense systems, 10 armored rescue vehicles, 20 rocket launchers, precision-guided munitions and unmanned aerial vehicle defense systems will be delivered to Ukraine. According to the agency’s source, these weapons will generally be handed over in 2023.