Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk in an interview with the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag criticized the Chancellor of the Republic Olaf Scholz for indecision on the issue of supplying heavy weapons to Kyiv.
“This shows the inertia of German politics.
Olaf Scholz is probably acting like Angela Merkel: first wait and see, and someday later make a decision or not ... The policy of a firm hand has sunk into history, ”Melnik said.
In his opinion, the federal chancellor lacks "imagination and courage", while many Germans allegedly would like to see an energetic leader.
The Ukrainian ambassador also called all the fears of the German leadership about the country being drawn into a military conflict due to military supplies "complete nonsense."
“The German government is very good at finding excuses and giving absurd justifications for its inaction… A Russian victory in Ukraine would be the worst thing that could happen to Germany,” the diplomat said.
In his opinion, Berlin's decision to transfer Gepard anti-aircraft self-propelled guns to Kyiv was also unsatisfactory.
According to him, there is virtually no ammunition for them, and the installations themselves are already outdated, while Ukraine needs the most modern weapons.
In particular, Kyiv is interested in Leopard tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).
In addition, Andrei Melnik said that he did not consider the amounts allocated by the German authorities as financial assistance to the republic sufficient.
Berlin spends much more impressive funds on the needs of its citizens, he noted.
“One billion euros in aid to Ukraine sounds like a lot.
However, I would like to point out that the aid package for the Germans just adopted by the federal government is €15 billion,” the ambassador said.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andriy Melnyk
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At the same time, the head of the diplomatic mission noted that he does not consider his claims superfluous and is not afraid that his statements may alienate the chancellor and his ministers, since, according to his assessment, today the situation is such that one has to knock “on the table with a fist”.
dangerous haste
Meanwhile, Olaf Scholz himself does not consider the tactics he has chosen to be erroneous.
He noted that all issues related to the supply of weapons to Ukraine are coordinated with the allies.
“I make decisions quickly and in concert with our allies.
I am suspicious of hasty actions and individual actions of Germany, ”he explained in an interview with the same Bild am Sonntag.
At the same time, as noted by the publication, more than half of the Germans are dissatisfied with the work of the Chancellor.
According to a survey conducted on April 29 by the polling agency INSA for the newspaper, 54% of respondents share this opinion, while only 32% approve of Scholz's actions.
However, public opinion does not have much influence on Scholz in the matter of decision-making.
“Polls should be taken into account, but you should not make your actions dependent on them, especially in matters of war and peace.
It would be extremely dangerous,” he said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.
Meanwhile, not everyone in Germany's political circles supports Berlin's assistance to Kyiv.
Thus, the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Tino Khrupalla, does not believe that Germany should help Ukraine financially or with weapons.
“The Federal Republic of Germany needs the most modern weapons for national defense and cannot do without them,” he said in an interview with the DPA agency.
He also rejected the demands of Andriy Melnyk to increase the amount of funding for Ukraine, since, according to him, the Germans themselves, due to current political events, need help.
“We don’t owe Ukraine anything at all in terms of military materials or aid.
We have no allied obligations, and we should not allow ourselves to be pushed towards such an alliance,” Khrupalla stressed.
The opinion that Germany should not supply Ukraine with heavy weapons was also expressed by the leader of the Left faction, Dietmar Barch, at a meeting in the Bundestag on April 28.
In his opinion, the supplies will increase the risk of nuclear escalation and are unlikely to put an end to hostilities.
This position has gained supporters among the inhabitants of Germany.
So, on May 1, residents of the German city of Ahrensburg (the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein) booed and called “war instigator” Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock, who, during a speech there, spoke in favor of supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons.
Meanwhile, the petition of German cultural and art workers calling on Scholz not to supply these weapons to Kyiv, posted on the Change.org portal on April 29, has already gained more than 160 thousand signatures at the time of writing.
Keeping the balance
Experts, in turn, note that Olaf Scholz today is subjected to massive pressure not only from his colleagues and Ukrainian statesmen, but also from the United States.
“The American partners are pushing the chancellor to take this step, because they want to tie Germany firmly to this conflict and make her one of the indirect participants in the hostilities so that the Germans have no way back.
And the fact that Scholz cannot unambiguously dismiss these deliveries, closing the issue once and for all, shows that, to a certain extent, German foreign and domestic policy is not sovereign, ”explained Alexander, leading researcher at the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT Kamkin.
Despite this, the chancellor is still trying to maneuver between the general Western anti-Russian course and his own political understanding of where Germany should move, said Dmitry Levi, associate professor at the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations at St Petersburg University, in a conversation with RT.
“In general, Scholz doesn’t have that much choice, so he has to be careful not to cross any reasonable red lines for himself.
First of all, he takes careful actions, and then he tries to wrap them in a beautiful cover of aid to Ukraine, even if the actions themselves are rather modest,” the analyst explained.
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However, in Kyiv today they refuse to accept any other participation of the Western community, except for unconditional support, Leonid Krutakov, associate professor of the Department of Political Science at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, emphasized in an interview with RT.
“The Ukrainian authorities understand that the United States is behind them, and allow themselves to put pressure on Germany and the European Union as a whole.
At the same time, as a state, Ukraine no longer represents anything, and even before it was rather conditional.
She lived in the USSR at the expense of the Union, so the habit remained, ”he explained.
This point of view is shared by Alexander Kamkin.
“Obviously, the pro-American lobby in Berlin is so strong that even such a defiant behavior of Mr. Melnyk does not allow Berlin to expose this to Kyiv and pull its representative,” the analyst added.
At the same time, as Dmitry Levy predicts, Ukraine will continue to rely on emotional tension, outrageousness and provocations, since only this allows Germany to be spurred on to expand assistance.
“As soon as the issue leaves the front pages of the media, the severity of the scandals will subside, the Germans will give up on all this and switch to a discussion of what is happening with inflation and the economy,” the expert believes.
In any case, Germany will be very cautious in making final decisions and will not act in isolation from the collective West, Kamkin is sure.
“I think that Berlin will clearly make decisions not based on the words of Mr. Melnik, but based on the opinion of its NATO partners and assessing the consequences for itself,” the analyst summed up.