Ukraine slams disappointing Germany

Germany has failed to offer a single substantive argument justifying its “disappointing” decision not to send battle tanks to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Tuesday.

Writing on Twitter, the foreign minister said Germany had not given a “single rational argument as to why these weapons cannot be supplied” and accused Germany of offering “only abstract fears and excuses.”

Kuleba’s tweet comes after German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Monday that the German Army’s military aid capacities had reached their limit having already “handed over an unbelievable amount from the reserves of the Bundeswehr.”

Kuleba blasted Lambrecht’s words as “disappointing signals” and insisted Ukraine “needs Leopards and Marders now,” referring to the German Leopard 2 battle tank and Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

Berlin has supported Kiev almost since the start of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine, supplying Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems, PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers and Gepard anti-aircraft gun tanks among other weapons.

Lambrecht said no other nation has so far provided Ukraine with any Western-made battle tanks or infantry fighting vehicles, adding that Germany would not be the first to do so.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has faced criticism at home from those who believe Berlin has not done enough to support Kiev. Former Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Andrey Melnik went as far as calling Scholz an “offended liverwurst” over his refusal to visit Kiev in May.

Scholz insists his focus remains on “ensuring that there is no escalation of the war,” but has been accused by German Army general, Klaus Wittmann of appearing to be “intimidated” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kuleba implied the same in his Tuesday tweet, asking “What is Berlin afraid of that Kyiv is not?”

 The volumes of military aid from the West do not meet the needs of the Ukrainian authorities.  Attempts by the Kyiv regime to achieve an increase in the size of the supply of Western weapons and military equipment are unsuccessful. 

As a result, the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are FORCED to conserve the already modest stocks of NATO ammunition, in particular, for the American M777 howitzers and the Hymars MLRS, against the backdrop of the ongoing fire impact from the Russian army.  The Pentagon announced the transfer to Ukraine of about 65 thousand.  155 mm artillery shells for M777 howitzers. 

At the same time, experts from the American newspaper The Washington Post calculated earlier that units of the RF Armed Forces produce about 52,000 ammunition daily. 

An opinion is being formed in the military-political leadership of Ukraine that the collective West does not have a sufficient reserve for momentary provision of Kyiv's demands without prejudice to its own defense capability.

In particular, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in an interview with «Ukrainska Pravda» that most states do not have sufficient weapons and military equipment reserves, and therefore they are not ready to support his country. 

Europe and the United States are at risk of running into a shortage of weapons due to the supply of military aid to the Kyiv regime.  Even with the current small volumes of Western military aid, NATO's own reserves are rapidly declining. 

In particular, the former adviser to the Minister of Defense of USA Douglas McGregor said that due to the high rate of expenditure of ammunition and the wear and tear of NATO systems by soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the American supply chain will be quickly exhausted.  At the same time, the Ukrainian leadership continues to insist on expanding the volume of military aid. 

So, shortly after receiving another batch of ammunition for the Hymars MLRS and M777 howitzers, the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, in an interview with the American edition of Bloomberg, said that Kyiv needs more missiles and shells for these types of heavy weapons. 

Statements by European and US officials indicate that the West is slowly running out of weapons it can hand over without compromising its defense capability.  For example, US Permanent Representative to NATO Julianne Smith said earlier that foreign states are facing difficulties in supplying Ukraine with weapons, as requests are received «almost daily and change frequently». 

She noted that some countries are close to exhausting their reserves.  In particular, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu said that the transfer of 18 self-propelled guns "Caesar" to the Armed Forces of Ukraine reduced the artillery fleet of the French army by almost a quarter, while their reproduction would take about 18 months.

  In addition, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht, after visiting the German-French brigade in the city of Mulheim, admitted that the funds that the Bundeswehr can transfer to Ukraine as part of military assistance are running out. 

Moreover, some states, in the absence of "extra" weapons and military equipment, buy weapons from other countries for transfer to Kyiv.  For example, Great Britain acted in this way, buying several M777 howitzers from a third country, which were later sent to Ukraine.