Germany refused to donate defence materials to Ukraine for a long time. It also prevented other countries from transferring their systems to Ukraine for the same reason. A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany changed its policy and decided to send weapons to a country that was at war. This was the first time since the end of WW II.
Answering questions about Germany supplying arms to Ukraine, Ambassador Melnyk said, “You are very, very late, but hopefully not too late.” He continued, “It is not just about providing tactical help to Ukraine. All of our Partners should now be clear that we need to arm Ukraine to strengthen its defence capabilities. And Germany could play a central role in this. We want to order corvettes and submarines from German armaments companies. Concrete talks about this were impossible until a few days ago because of this political deadlock. Now I’m more confident.
What else does Ukraine need from Germany?
I’m thinking of stationary air defence systems. Germany supplies these systems to Egypt, so why not to us? I take the Chancellor, who spoke of the turning point, at his word. This means that the turning point must also be felt in practice, which is why both of our countries should dare to make an actual new start in the armaments sector.
