"Reinforced concrete position": why Germany refrains from supplying weapons to Ukraine

Kiev does not expect a change in Germany's approach to the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces with the arrival of Olaf Scholz as Chancellor.

The Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andriy Melnik stated this in an interview with the Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper.

He recalled that from the very beginning of the conflict in Donbass, Berlin has refused to transfer its military products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Will this attitude in Berlin change under the new government?

I think it would be too optimistic to expect Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet to take some other course.

I would very much like to be wrong, but I am afraid that this reinforced concrete position, which does not stand up to criticism from a moral point of view, will be preserved, ”Melnik said.

So the Ukrainian ambassador commented on the blocking of supplies to Ukraine of anti-drone rifles already purchased through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).

According to the "Mirror of the Week", the transfer of these weapons to Ukraine was frozen by a representative of the FRG.

The miller confirmed this information.

"The story you mentioned is very indicative and demonstrates the general attitude and approaches of the previous leadership of Germany and, I am afraid, also of the new government regarding the provision, or rather, non-provision of defense weapons to Ukraine," the ambassador stated.

According to Melnik, Kiev has not received any official comments on the reasons for the blocking.

However, at an informal level, it was made clear to Ukraine that the appearance of anti-drone rifles could provoke further military escalation on the line of contact in Donbass.

“This is the main line of argumentation, which we have unofficially heard in recent years as an excuse for the sharp refusal of official Berlin to provide Ukraine with weapons in order to strengthen our defense capability,” Melnyk complained.

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Begging for money and weapons

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Since the beginning of this year, Kiev has repeatedly turned to Germany for military assistance.

At the end of April, the German edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported that Ukraine expects to receive funds from Germany to protect the Black Sea coast from a possible "invasion" from the Russian Federation. 

In particular, Kiev asked the German side to transfer air defense systems, anti-ship weapons, mine clearance equipment and corvettes.

Later, on May 29, in an interview with FAZ, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Berlin to supply weapons to Kiev.

He recalled that since the beginning of the conflict in 2014, Germany has not provided "any weapons, no military assistance."

• Tank Operations Joint Forces (JF)

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As the Ukrainian leader noted, Kiev is grateful to Berlin for other forms of support, but at the same time “Germany can do more” - for example, transfer “powerful ships”, missile and patrol boats, assault rifles, radio-technical products and various military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The position of the government of Angela Merkel was that any form of military support to Ukraine could negatively affect the peace process, the mechanisms of which are determined by the "Normandy format" and the Minsk agreements.

On June 1, during a press conference, Heiko Maas, the then Foreign Minister of the Federal Republic of Germany, said that Berlin supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

At the same time, he spoke out against the provision of any military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stressing that "the conflict can only be resolved through political means."

The German Foreign Minister expressed a similar point of view at a press briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba on June 9.

Maas explained that a positive solution to the issue of supplying weapons to Kiev would worsen relations between Moscow and Berlin within the framework of the Normandy format.

“As for the supply of weapons, I said that when we called (the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry - RT) Sergey Lavrov to influence the meeting in the Normandy format ... If I had said during a telephone conversation that we would supply weapons to the side of the conflict, then this conversation would be much shorter than it actually was, ”said Maas.

Analysts remind that the German political elite has different views on the issue of arms supplies to Kiev.

The two largest political forces - the CDU / CSU bloc and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), which won the September parliamentary elections - oppose aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Some functionaries of the Soyuz 90 / Greens party, which won third place in the elections to the Bundestag, adhere to the opposite point of view.

The co-chair of this political force, Annalena Berbock, received the post of foreign minister in the new government.

Meanwhile, experts interviewed by RT are confident that Berlin will maintain the continuity of Merkel's course.

Earlier, Olaf Scholz has already expressed a firm intention to continue working in the "Normandy format" and follow the plan outlined in Minsk-2, and Berbock advocated a diplomatic way to resolve the conflict in Donbass.

“Germany is a significant participant in the work to resolve the situation in Donbass.

In this regard, it will look absurd if it starts supplying any weapon to one of the parties to this conflict, "Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, explained in an interview with RT.

• New German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

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In his opinion, Scholz, like Merkel, values ​​Berlin's intermediary mission and will not give in to persuasion to join the club of arms suppliers for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the same time, the FRG cannot be suspected of playing on the side of Russia in the Ukrainian crisis.

According to Shapovalov, Germany's logic lies in the development of forms of non-military support for Ukraine.

Alexei Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Research at MGIMO, argues in a similar vein.

According to him, the supply of weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is contrary to the national interests of the FRG, but Kiev is clearly ignoring this circumstance.

“Ukrainian diplomats and authorities do not hide their irritation with Germany's refusals.

In general, the constant begging for money and weapons is a characteristic feature of the Ukrainian political elite.

They want everything to be provided to them free of charge and without any conditions, ”Podberezkin noted.

"Maintain the degree of tension"

It is worth recalling that since 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been receiving military assistance from several NATO states at once.

The largest supplier is Washington.

So, according to the draft military budget of the United States, in 2022 Ukraine should receive arms and services in the amount of $ 300 million. Previously, about $ 250 million was allocated annually to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to experts, with the arrival of Joe Biden in the White House, the amount of appropriations increased slightly.

For example, at the end of August, the US President ordered an additional $ 60 million to Kiev "in the form of defense products and services of the US Department of Defense, as well as education and training of military personnel."

At the same time, Ukraine does not receive American money directly.

With funds allocated from the US budget, the Pentagon trains Ukrainian military personnel and supplies Kiev with products of its own defense sector.

As a rule, armored vehicles, communications equipment, reconnaissance and surveillance systems, electronic warfare systems, and medical equipment are transferred to the Armed Forces.

Since 2018, the Ukrainian army has begun to receive lethal weapons in the form of Javelin anti-tank missile systems (ATGM).

Recently, Kiev announced the delivery of a batch of 30 such ATGMs from overseas.

According to experts, while providing assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the United States does not particularly take into account the needs of Ukraine and periodically delays deliveries for its own reasons.

So, according to sources on the NBC channel, the Biden administration is in no hurry to send a large consignment of military products to Ukraine, so as not to provoke an increase in tension in the context of the Russian Federation's alleged plans to attack Ukraine.

“In the matter of military assistance, the United States acts exclusively in its own interests.

Washington does not benefit from a major, destructive conflict, and therefore it adheres to a certain framework.

With the current supply of weapons, the United States maintains a certain degree of tension in the Donbass and in relations between Russia and Ukraine, "Shapovalov explained.

• ATGM Javelin in service with the Ukrainian army

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• © Gleb Garanich

Also, according to the expert, by the presence of a smoldering armed conflict in Eastern Europe, Washington is trying to mobilize NATO, uniting the Europeans around it.

Alexey Podberezkin adheres to a similar view.

However, from his point of view, US policy is contrary to the interests of Europe.

Thus, US military support for Kiev only exacerbates NATO's unity crisis.

“The example of Germany’s position is the best way to show that the governments in the EU, where there are still sane politicians, do not want to provoke a conflict and unduly spoil relations with Moscow.

Such a course runs counter to Washington's guidelines, ”Podberezkin summed up.