German industrialists are ready to help Ukraine with the supply of heavy weapons; however, the German government is limited to promises. And this is even though the German Ministry of Defense budget allocations include a program to support Ukraine's defense capabilities in the amount of 1 billion euros, said in an interview with NV Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin Andriy Melnyk.
He recalled that back in April, the Bundestag had made a political decision to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons and integrated systems, provided that this did not harm Germany's sovereignty and NATO commitments.
"That is, there is a decision, as if there is a declared political will, which is constantly repeated personally by Chancellor [Olaf Scholz] and other politicians, ministers of this government. There have been a number of announcements made, and loud statements in recent weeks. On the other hand, as of today, no, I repeat, no unit of heavy equipment - at least artillery, howitzers, infantry fighting vehicles, tanks - has been delivered to Ukraine," the diplomat complained.
In Germany, there is a big difference "between what politicians say and what they actually do."
Andriy Melnyk
The program of support of international partners has been included in the budget allocations of the Ministry of Defense of Germany, 2 billion euros have been allocated for these purposes, Melnyk noted. It was planned to allocate about 1 billion to increase Ukraine's defense capabilities.
"Germany has sent a number of samples of weapons since the first weeks of the war, after our political pressure. But we are still talking about light weapons: anti-tank systems and those designed to protect the airspace (Stinger MANPADS), mines, grenades, small arms (machine guns), and a number of other things that are not really weapons: trucks, armored vehicles. No heavy weapons were bought and delivered," the ambassador said.
"In short, of the 1 billion that was announced, they have not yet spent anything, according to my information, to buy something from German industry. And she, as you know, is ready to help us," he added.
According to him, in Germany, there is a big difference "between what politicians say and what they actually do."
According to the ambassador, two promises can be considered real today: Ukraine can receive seven self-propelled howitzers on June 22, and 30 Panzerhaubitze self-propelled anti-aircraft systems in two batches by the end of August.
"That is, only two decisions of all announced by the German government to date, which are under implementation," - said Melnik.
The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag wrote that in the last nine weeks, Chancellor Scholz's government has reduced the supply of weapons to Ukraine to a minimum. Scholz himself claims that Germany is "doing more" to support Ukraine than the United Kingdom. According to him, only the United States sent more military aid to Kyiv than Germany.
On June 8, a German government spokesman said the country had never named an exact date for arms supplies to Ukraine.
