Saturday, May 13, 2023 / 12:14
The director of the Ukrainian President’s Office said on Saturday that Germany will provide a new military aid package worth 2.7 billion euros ($2.97 billion) to Ukraine, including 30 Leopard tanks.
Ukraine pressures its allies to get weapons and planes before a counterattack
Andrei Yermak said in a post on Telegram that Berlin will also provide four Iris-T air defense systems, 20 Marder armored personnel carriers, 200 reconnaissance drones, 100 armored vehicles, and a large amount of ammunition.
In the context, a German opposition politician called for allowing Ukraine to use German weapons also against targets on Russian soil.
“There is no reason, from the perspective of international law or politics, that Ukraine should not be allowed to attack targets in Russia,” said the deputy head of the parliamentary bloc of the Christian Alliance, Johann Wadphull, in statements to the German newspaper “Tagesspiegel” today, Saturday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently spoke of a “consensus” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to use German weapons to launch attacks on Russian soil.
“Why should a country under attack limit itself to defending itself on its own territory?” Vadful said, emphasizing the need for Ukraine “to be able to disrupt logistics and supplies outside its borders so that it can stop the war of aggression.”
“Germany should actively help Ukraine instead of tying the country’s hands,” he said.
“Unlike Russia, Ukraine is limited to attacking industrial facilities, fuel depots, infrastructure used for transportation and military matters. It does not bomb residential complexes, hospitals or kindergartens – it is very different from Russia,” he added.
Ukraine is pressing its allies to obtain weapons, combat aircraft and long-range ammunition before an expected counterattack in the coming weeks or months.
Germany was initially reluctant to send heavy weapons to Ukraine to help it confront the Russian invasion, fearing that it might lead to an escalation of the fighting. But Berlin agreed in January to send Leopard tanks and said it would work with allies to send more of them.
Ahead of a possible visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Germany this week, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Parliament (Bundestag), Michael Roth, expressed his support for Ukraine’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
“The next NATO summit in Vilnius in July should send a clear signal about what Ukraine’s path towards credible security guarantees aimed at achieving its NATO membership should look like,” said Rutte, who belongs to the Social Democratic Party. Russia Ukraine again, or question its security, independence and territorial integrity.
Zelensky calls for NATO to invite his country to join the alliance. For the German government, such a step is not yet on the agenda.
