At the end of April, Germany decided to start supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine. However, in Kyiv they say that more than a month has passed, and Berlin has not fulfilled its promises. What did Ukraine get? German promises to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons” />
Howitzers PzH 2000
What weapons did Scholz say about the supply of Ukraine
On Wednesday, June 1, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in the Bundestag that the country will supply Ukraine with modern IRIS-T air defense systems: they will be transferred to Kyiv in the coming weeks. The Armed Forces of Ukraine will also receive a modern radar station and 12 PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery mounts (ACS) from Germany (now Ukrainian military instructors are completing their development).
“The government has decided to supply the IRIS-T— this is the most modern air defense system of those that the Federal Republic of Germany has,— Scholz said. He noted that Germany has been constantly supplying weapons to Ukraine since the start of the Russian special operation. “To date, we have delivered more than 15 million rounds of ammunition, 100 thousand hand grenades, more than 5 thousand anti-tank mines,” — said the chancellor. He also mentioned the implementation of the so-called circular exchange with the Czech Republic: Prague will supply Kyiv with 20 Soviet T-72 tanks, and in return will receive 15 Leopard 2А4 tanks from Germany.
Following the meeting, Tagesspiegel, citing sources in government circles, reported that Scholz kept silent about another supply of weapons: Germany would send Ukraine four Mars II multiple launch rocket systems manufactured by Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann from its own stocks.
A day earlier, on the sidelines of the EU summit, Scholz held talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and agreed on a new circular arms exchange: Athens will supply Kyiv with 40-50-year-old BMP-1 armored personnel carriers, and in return they will receive German Marder-type infantry fighting vehicles from Berlin, which the Bundeswehr planned to replace with newer Puma type. Earlier it was reported that an agreement had been reached on a circular exchange with Poland and Slovenia: the latter was proposed to transfer a large number of T-72 tanks to Ukraine, and in return to receive a Marder infantry fighting vehicle and a Fuchs wheeled armored car from Germany.
Germany has long adhered to the policy of refusing to supply arms to Ukraine, but revised it after the start of the Russian military operation on February 24, although retaining an unspoken ban on the supply of heavy weapons. On April 28, the three ruling parties of the country, together with the largest opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions, adopted a document in the Bundestag calling on the government to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons. At the same time, Berlin announced its intention to transfer 30 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Kyiv, organizing appropriate training for the Ukrainian military on the territory of Germany. The first batch of these self-propelled guns equipped with automatic guns is due to go to Ukraine in July, the second — in August.
What problems does Germany have with arms supplies
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Despite Berlin's statements about the upcoming deliveries of heavy weapons and circular exchanges, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk claims that Scholz does not really intend to implement the Bundestag's call and supply Kyiv with heavy weapons. In an interview with RND, Melnyk agreed with the journalist's statement that the choice of Gepard for delivery to Ukraine is a farce, since the FRG has only 23 thousand shells for them, which is enough for just half an hour of operation of one installation.
Ammunition for Gepard is produced in Switzerland, but it does not agree to supply them to war zones. And, according to Melnik, this issue has not yet been resolved. “We get the impression that the chancellor does not want to do this (supply heavy weapons to Ukraine.— RBC). There are only seven self-propelled howitzers [delivered], and we don’t have Gepard, just as we don’t have Leopard-1 or Marder. All of them have already been decommissioned by the Bundeswehr and can be transferred to us by the military industry without prejudice to the defense capability of the FRG, — Melnik continued. The ambassador also said that the deal with Slovenia has not yet been implemented, as Germany has not offered it an adequate replacement for the T-72 tanks. “It seems that this is how they are trying to buy time and are waiting for a ceasefire. Then the pressure on Germany will subside and there will be no need to make bold decisions, — summed up Melnik.
Politico, citing documents in its possession, reported on June 1 that Ukraine did not request Gepard from Germany, but filed an application on March 24 for the purchase of decommissioned Marder infantry fighting vehicles from the German defense concern Rheinmetall. On April 14, the concern agreed to sell 100 refurbished Marders and 1.5 million ammunition to Kyiv for a total cost of €153 million. The first batch, according to the documents, could be transferred to Ukraine within a few weeks. The corresponding deal must be approved by the German government, but there was no response from him. In parallel, Politico notes, the German chancellor promised to supply Marder to Greece. “There is no indication that Kyiv will receive any modern Marder models in the near future,” — states the publication.
The announced circular exchange deal with the Czech Republic has not yet been implemented and the timing of its implementation is unknown, according to the German portal NTV. A similar deal with Poland has also not been completed, although Warsaw has already transferred 240 Soviet-made tanks to Kyiv, Spiegel notes. According to the publication, Poland asked Germany for the latest Leopard models, but Berlin did not deliver them. In Germany, they cannot fulfill the requirements of Poland, because the FRG simply does not have these tanks available, Spiegel explains the situation. German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht acknowledged at a closed meeting on May 16 that she had little hope left that Berlin could reach an agreement with Warsaw. “There were promises from the Germans to strengthen our defenses, unfortunately, none of this was realized,” — Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Szymon Szynkowski said.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made a statement that the Russian armed forces would consider warehouses and transports of weapons supplied to NATO to Kyiv as legitimate targets. “Of course, these weapons will be a legitimate target for the Russian armed forces, which operate as part of a special armed operation. And warehouses, including those in the west of Ukraine, have become such a target more than once, — he said on the air of the program “Big Game” on the “First” April 25.
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