Germany will not supply heavy weapons to Ukraine due to the “need to always have the possibility to defend the territory of the Alliance”. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that in his interview forDie Spiegel.
He said that the threat to the NATO territory from russia remains real, it is what is communicated by the Baltic partners, which demand to increase the Bundeswehr presence. Therefore, the members of the block strengthen the territory of these states with military equipment.
Scholz also states that the possibilities of the Bundeswehr relating to additional equipment delivery for Ukraine from its arsenal have been considerably exhausted.
“What we still can do, we will definitely deliver – anti-tank weapons, anti-tank mines, and artillery projectiles. Therefore, in our talks with the German industry we have made a list of military weaponry, which can be delivered within a short period of time, and have discussed this list with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” said the Chancellor.
Scholz believes that the best option for Ukraine now is to receive soviet-made weapons since in Ukraine they know how to operate them and no time is required for training. He added, however, that in the medium-term perspective Germany will help Ukraine to strengthen its defense capability by, in particular, delivering western weapons.
According to the Bild, Germany’s Ministry of Defense, acting at the demand of the chancellor’s office, has deleted all heavy weapons from the list of requests presented by Ukraine, although the German industry is ready to deliver such weaponry in the short-term and medium-term perspective. From 15 initial Ukraine’s requests for the weapons, there are only three positions left, at the same time, some of them have alternatives.