Germany currently does not have any armaments that it can supply to Ukraine on a short notice, German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock said at a joint press conference with her Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkevics in Riga on Wednesday.
“In the short-term perspective, we don’t have anything that we can deliver really fast and without delay,” she stated. Due to this, according to her, Berlin agreed to support those partners who are ready to supply to Kiev Soviet-made weapons that Ukrainian troops would be familiar with. The German top diplomat confirmed that the reserves of Germany’s armed forces with regards to the deliveries of heavy weapons to Kiev are exhausted.
Earlier, she said that Kiev needs heavy weapons and now is not the time to come up with excuses on this issue.
On February 26, the German government approved arms supplies to Ukraine. Berlin made a decision to send to Kiev 1,000 units of anti-tank armaments and 500 Stinger man-portable air-defense systems (MPADS). Earlier on the same day, it became known that Germany permitted the Netherlands and Estonia to send obsolete German-made armaments to Ukraine. On March 2, it was reported that the weapons have been handed over to Ukraine. On March 14, the German authorities announced that to avoid additional risks they won’t provide information on arms supplies to Ukraine anymore.
On March 23, Germany’s DPA news agency reported, citing its sources, that Germany intended to provide Ukraine with 2,000 hand-held grenade launchers from their supplies. On March 25, it became known that 1,500 Strela MPADS, 100 MG3 machine guns and 8 mln bullets were delivered from Germany to Ukraine. Ukraine also intends to purchase 35 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany’s Rheinmetall.
Source: Agencies
