Germany cannot send heavy weapons to Ukraine, in particular Marder infantry fighting vehicles, as this will negatively affect Germany's defense capability, Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr Markus Laubenthal said on the air of the ZDF TV channel.

“In order to maintain and manage these armed forces (as well as for the timely training of second-echelon forces), we need these weapons systems,” Laubenthal explained.

In addition, the German military official added that the Marder infantry fighting vehicles required by the Ukrainian side are necessary for Germany to fulfill its obligations within NATO.

These vehicles cannot simply be handed over to Kiev, he stressed.

“Then the Bundeswehr would have nothing left for the appropriate deployment of additional contingents if the NATO Rapid Response Force needs support,” Markus Laubenthal said.

Having lost these machines, the Bundeswehr will not be able to participate in the alliance battle group in Slovakia and respond to unforeseen circumstances, added the Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr.

“That would significantly weaken the defense capability,” Laubenthal said.

A similar position was voiced in the Ministry of Defense of Germany.

The official representative of the department at a press briefing said that the supply of heavy weapons from the stocks of the Bundeswehr to Ukraine is not provided, since they are necessary to fulfill obligations within NATO and ensure the country's security.

Non-working scheme

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov requested 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from the German side at the end of March.

This infantry fighting vehicle was created in the late 1960s by the Rheinmetall concern by order of the German army.

Despite the fact that their production was discontinued back in 1975, they are still operated by the Bundeswehr.

In early April, Berlin rejected Kyiv's demand, explaining that the German troops needed these vehicles.

The Politico edition reported that the Rheinmetall concern expressed its readiness to provide 100 decommissioned Marder machines to the Ukrainian side, which are at the disposal of the company.

However, it may take at least several months to bring these BMPs to combat readiness, Politico emphasizes.

To speed up the process, the company offered the German Ministry of Defense to transfer to Kiev the Marder BMP, which are now in service as part of military units.

After that, Rheinmetall promises to replace these vehicles with restored infantry fighting vehicles from the concern's stocks. 

However, a representative of the German Ministry of Defense told Politico that the transfer of heavy weapons to the Kiev regime under such a scheme is impossible.

“We conducted an analysis and found that this is not how it works,” a representative of the department told the publication.

He also referred to the need for German troops to fulfill their obligations within NATO forces.

“In addition, we have an obligation enshrined in the Constitution - to ensure national defense,” Politico quotes the words of a representative of the German Ministry of Defense.

Also unlikely is the transfer of Leopard tanks and Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Kiev, Politico notes.

German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht on April 9, in an interview with the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, also stated that further arms supplies to Ukraine from existing stocks are impossible, as this will affect the defense capability of the armed forces of Germany itself.

In turn, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on April 19, following a video conference with the leaders of the G7 countries, said that the Bundeswehr's weapons reserves, which can be used for supplies to Ukraine, have been exhausted.

At the same time, the German leader added that Kyiv could buy the necessary weapons from the German defense concerns, which would then be compensated.

  • Bundestag

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  • © Michael Sohn

German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock at a joint press conference with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said that Berlin does not have weapons that could be delivered to Kiev in a short time.

At the same time, according to her, Berlin supplied Kiev with a large number of weapons, which were not mentioned publicly.

“We delivered anti-tank systems, Stinger systems and other weapons that we never talked about publicly, so these deliveries could happen quickly,” TASS quoted her as saying.

Stock depletion

It is worth noting that Germany is not the only country that has announced the exhaustion of available stocks of weapons that can be supplied to Ukraine.

So, back in mid-March, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand on the air of the CBC television channel informed that Ottawa had depleted stocks of anti-tank missiles, grenades, ammunition, sniper rifles and other military equipment to be sent to the forces of the Kiev regime.

In turn, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told members of parliament on April 14 that more supplies of weapons to Ukraine from the stocks of the Greek army are not planned, as this will weaken the country's defense capability.

In Germany, they realized that military assistance to Ukraine has little effect on the combat effectiveness of the forces of the Kiev regime, while significantly undermining the capabilities of the Bundeswehr, Alexei Mukhin, general director of the Center for Political Information, said in a conversation with RT.

  • German infantry fighting vehicles Marder

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  • © Mindaugas Kulbis

“Scholz makes very mixed statements: on the one hand, he speaks of unconditional support for Ukraine, and on the other hand, he draws attention to the fact that Germany should not expose its own security and make itself vulnerable.

This is a sure harbinger that Scholz intends to curtail military assistance to Ukraine in the near future.

In Berlin, they realized that the weapons that are now being supplied to Kiev on behalf of the NATO member countries are either destroyed or fall into the hands of the LPR and DPR forces, ”the political scientist emphasized.

NATO countries found themselves in a hopeless situation due to pressure from the United States, which sends weapons to Kiev, but has disproportionately large reserves and a defense budget, Alexei Mukhin added.

“It has become clear that these countries are in a vulnerable position.

Some NATO countries, including Germany, have announced increased spending on national defense, but the production of weapons they have lost takes time.

Germany and other NATO members do not have this time, ”said the interlocutor of RT.

In addition, it is not clear where all the weapons transferred to Kiev go, said Alexei Mukhin.

In turn, military expert Alexei Leonkov, in a conversation with RT, stated that Germany had actually emptied its long-term military warehouses and further deliveries of heavy weapons and military equipment would have a direct impact on the country's security.

“Now Germany is trying to get out of this game with at least some dividends.

Berlin does not want to send heavy equipment and weapons to Kiev for free, it wants to get money to revive its military-industrial complex.

Therefore, German officials consistently declare that there is nothing left in the warehouses, ”the expert noted.

At the same time, the fears of the German military about the combat capability of the Bundeswehr are not groundless, Alexey Leonkov added. 

“In Germany, only approximately 50-60% of the armored vehicle fleet can be used in combat.

The rest requires a major overhaul, the German generals complained more than once about the lack of funds to maintain equipment in working order, ”said the military expert.

The United States and NATO countries, by supplying weapons to Ukraine, want to slow down the course of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces, but the effect of these supplies is still doubtful, Alexei Leonkov believes.

“The Americans themselves are not going to supply Kiev with something serious from their weapons.

But they force their NATO partners to do this work for them.

They believe that such supplies to the territory of Ukraine can slow down the Russian army.

But, as the result shows, this weapon does not make a significant change in the course of hostilities.

In theory, these weapons should contribute to some kind of breakthroughs along the line of contact, but we have not seen a single serious counter-offensive operation from the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ”the expert concluded.