Germany has ‘hit the limit’ in weapons supplies to Ukraine, but vows continued support
Germany says it will continue to support Ukraine against Russia, despite warnings that the country has "hit the limit" in the amount of weapons it can give the country from its army reserves.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised continued support as he spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday, following reports that he had rejected Kiev's request for state-of-the-art Leopard 2 tanks during Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal's visit to Berlin in the weekend.
Speaking during a visit to Germany on Sunday, Shmyhal thanked Germany for increasing its weapon exports to Kiev over the past months. He said the German armaments, including tank howitzer 2000 and Mittleres Artillerieraketensystem (MARS) rocket launchers, were all "working well on the battlefield."
But he also urged Berlin to provide more weapons, including battle tanks, for Kiev.
However, the Bild newspaper reported that Berlin wouldn't grant a separate Ukrainian request for troop transport vehicles given that they were needed for the German military.
The federal government rejected a March request for any of its 500 Dingo transport vehicles, which might allow Ukrainian soldiers to maneuver safely on the battlefield, due to "internal demand," regardless of the German military not being involved in any combat missions.
Meanwhile, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht told the German parliament that "we have given an unbelievable amount from the Bundeswehr (German military) stocks but I'll say it quite clearly: we have now hit a limit."
She added that Germany was in talks with its neighbors about the establishment of a joint European air defense.
The German official said her priority was to "ensure the defense of our country and our alliance in the future" but also promised that "we won't ease up in our support to Ukraine."
Since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine in February, the US and its European allies have imposed an array of sanctions against Russia and sent many shipments of weapons to Ukraine. On Monday, the European Union (EU) official in charge of foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, said European countries' own arsenals of weapons had been severely "depleted" as a result of the massive weapons transfers to the Ukrainian military.
Germany has for its part offered substantial support to Ukraine, sending billions of dollars in military aid and heavy weaponry to the country. Germany is the fourth largest donor to Ukraine, behind the US, the UK, and Poland.
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