Eks-ambassador of Ukraine Melnik: the German authorities put Kyiv “on a diet” militarily Andrey Melnik had previously criticized Berlin for delaying the supply of heavy weapons to Kyiv. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointed out that Germany supplied Ukraine “everything that was”, including weapons that the German army does not have
< img class="aligncenter" src="https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/3/71/756610824389713.jpg" alt="The ex-ambassador of Ukraine accused the German authorities of leaving Kyiv "on a diet" ;" />
Andriy Melnyk
Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk criticized Berlin for putting Kyiv “on a diet”; militarily.
"Dear "traffic" government [the name of the ruling coalition in Germany], why are the calls of your own defense policy experts demanding much more heavy weapons delivered to Ukraine? Why was Kyiv left militarily? On a diet»,— wrote Melnik on Twitter.
So he commented on the Spiegel article, in which Bundestag deputies Christian Klink, Alexander Müller and press secretary of the parliamentary group on defense policy Sarah Nanni advocated a significant increase in arms supplies to Ukraine.
< p>“The goal is to develop a long-term plan to provide Ukraine with weapons systems (including training, ammunition and technical support), and not constantly respond only to current problems”,— says the article.
Melnik has repeatedly criticized Berlin for its delay in delivering heavy weapons to Kyiv. At the end of May, the Welt newspaper reported that by that time Germany had reduced arms supplies to Ukraine to a minimum, since March Kyiv had not received “any significant weapons.” During this time, the newspaper wrote, the Ukrainian authorities received only two batches of weapons, which contained only small devices: anti-tank mines, parts for machine guns, radios, hand grenades, mines, detonators and explosives.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the information about the reduction of military support for Ukraine is not true, the Armed Forces of Ukraine received weapons from Berlin that are not yet in service with the German armed forces. Germany delivered to Ukraine “everything that was,” Scholz said: anti-aircraft and anti-tank systems, mines, “tons of ammunition”, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), self-propelled howitzers, counter-battery radars.
Read on RBC Pro Pro Why Selling Netflix is Just a Matter of Time but better» Articles Pro x The Economist The mystery of Ghana: how the country with the most paradoxical model of the economy lives Articles Pro VK disappointed the market. What to expect next from social media stocks Pro Articles How hard the sanctions hit the goods market 18+ Pro Articles In the pursuit of happiness: why strong motivation leads to failure Research
Among the weapons supplied to Ukraine— three Mars II multiple launch rocket systems, a German version of the American M270 MLRS MLRS. The APU received the systems in early August. Berlin promises to continue deliveries: the day before, the German authorities announced that they would transfer three more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Kyiv, increasing their number to 15, 20 70-mm rocket launchers, 2 thousand missiles for them, 30 MG-3 machine guns and other weapons and ammunition.
According to the German government, since the beginning of the year and until August 8, Berlin approved the export of weapons to Ukraine for a total of €686.4 million.
Russian authorities criticize arms supplies to Ukraine by Western countries, arguing that this threatens to escalate and only “prolong the conflict.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the supply of long-range weapons to Kyiv will lead to the fact that “the geographical objectives of the special operation will be pushed back even further.”
Authors Tags Poll
Tell RBC how your life has changed over the past six months
