The German newspaper Die Welt, citing sources in the Ukrainian government, reported that since June, Ukrainian diplomats have repeatedly appealed to the German government with a request to send additional weapons to Kyiv. In Berlin, the newspaper reports, all requests were rejected, saying that the Armed Forces of Germany themselves need it.
The newspaper reports that since June, the German Ministry of Defense has repeatedly held meetings in which the head of the German military department, Christina Lambrecht, actively participated. It is reported that Kyiv has repeatedly asked for additional deliveries of the weapons that had previously been sent by Berlin. These are mainly Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers and Mars II multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS).
Die Welt clarifies that Germany has already allocated ten Panzerhaubitze 2000 and three Mars II MLRS. Kyiv also asked to accept the shipment of 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, as well as 88 Leopard 1 tanks manufactured by Rheinmetall. The weapons concern itself agreed with such an initiative back in April, however, in this case, the German Ministry of Defense refused to the Ukrainian side.
The newspaper knows that last week the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Oleksiy Reznikov tried to discuss this issue again in a telephone conversation with Christina Lambrecht. On August 4, the head of Zelensky’s office, Andriy Yermak, called Jens Plötner, foreign policy adviser to the German Chancellor. The chancellor’s office declined to comment on the newspaper, citing the principle of confidentiality of conversations.
The sources of the newspaper report that the German Defense Ministry told Ukraine that the German Armed Forces themselves are in dire need of this weapon, since its use is prescribed in the obligations of the Bundeswehr within NATO.
Die Welt recalls that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his last public commitment to “significant arms deliveries” while speaking in the Bundestag as early as June 1st. Then he said that Germany would continue to support the defense capability of Ukraine and supply modern IRIS-T air defense systems.
Recall that earlier the American publication Politico, citing data from the Kiel Institute, reported that the collective military-industrial complex of Europe in mid-summer probably reached the peak of exhaustion – in July, the six largest EU countries did not promise Ukraine any new military assistance. The publication comes to the conclusion that this may mean a full-scale curtailment of the assistance program for the Ukrainian army due to the obvious futility of its struggle.
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