Germany has approved the delivery of 400 RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) from the Netherlands to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry said, confirming a change in policy after Berlin faced criticism for refusing to send weapons to Kiev, unlike other western allies.
“The approval was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense,” a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday (26). RPGs come from German military stockpiles.
Germany has a long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to war zones, rooted in part in its bloody 20th century history and the resulting pacifism.
Countries seeking to approve German arms exports must first apply for approval in Berlin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly referred to this policy in recent weeks when he refused to hand over lethal weapons to Ukraine.
Kiev’s ambassador to Germany on Saturday called on Berlin to join the Netherlands in supplying Ukraine with Stinger-type missiles.
“Wow, it’s finally time to help us,” Ambassador Andriy Melnyk told Reuters in an interview at the Ukrainian embassy.
“We need air defense and we need a zone of closed airspace,” Melnyk said.
Earlier on Saturday, the Dutch government said in a letter to parliament that it would supply 200 air defense rockets to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Berlin has yet to decide on a request from Estonia that wants to pass old howitzers to Ukraine. Finland bought the howitzers in the 1990s after the fall of the Berlin Wall and then resold them to Estonia.
Germany’s offer in late January to supply Ukraine with 5,000 military helmets to help defend against a possible Russian invasion was dismissed by Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko as “a joke”.
Berlin also handed over a field hospital to Kiev.
understand the conflict
After months of military escalation and intemperance on the Ukrainian border, Russia attacked the Eastern European country. At dawn this Thursday (24), Russian forces began to bomb several regions of the country – follow the repercussion live on CNN.
Hours earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a “special military operation” in the Donbas region (eastern Ukraine, where the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk are located, which he recognized as independent).
What was seen in the following hours, however, was an attack on almost the entire Ukrainian territory, with explosions in several cities, including the capital Kiev.
According to Ukrainian officials, dozens of deaths have been confirmed in the armies of both countries.
In his speech before the attack, Putin justified the action by saying that Russia could not “tolerate threats from Ukraine”. Putin urged Ukrainian soldiers to “put down your weapons and go home”. The Russian leader further stated that he will not accept any kind of foreign interference.
This attack on the former Soviet neighbor threatens to destabilize Europe and involve the United States.
Russia has been tightening its military grip around Ukraine for the past year, amassing tens of thousands of troops, equipment and artillery at the country’s gates.
In recent weeks, diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions have been unsuccessful.
The escalation in the years-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine has set off the continent’s biggest security crisis since the Cold War, raising the specter of a dangerous confrontation between Western powers and Moscow.
*With information from Sarah Marsh and Madeline Chambers of Reuters and Eliza Mackintosh of CNN
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
