Melnyk demands the most modern weapons
“For Putin, Germany has long been a war party”
05/01/2022, 04:00 a.m
The Ukrainian ambassador in Germany considers the promised arms deliveries to be expandable. He cannot understand the fear that Germany would then enter the war: In Putin’s eyes, that has long been the case.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, is demanding more heavy military equipment from Germany after the German government has promised to supply Gepard tanks to his home country. “The direction is right, but of course that won’t be enough,” said Melnyk of the “Bild am Sonntag”. The Gepard tanks are 40 years old, “to defeat Russia, we need the most modern German weapons.” Therefore, Ukraine would like “the speedy export of 88 Leopard tanks, 100 Marder tanks, self-propelled howitzers and much more,” said Melnyk.
Melnyk also sees room for improvement in the promised financial aid for the armament of Ukraine. “One billion euros in aid for Ukraine sounds like a lot. But I would like to point out that the federal government’s recently approved relief package for the Germans amounts to 15 billion euros.”
On Tuesday, the German government announced that it would be delivering decommissioned Gepard anti-aircraft tanks from the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) armaments group to Ukraine. On Thursday, the Bundestag passed a joint motion by the traffic light parties and the Union faction, in which the delivery of heavy weapons is supported.
Melnyk dismissed fears that Germany could become a party to the war by supplying arms. For Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, “Germany has long been a war party,” he said. “Anyone who wants to prevent their war from escalating must help us now to put Putin in his place. A Russian victory in Ukraine would be the worst thing that could happen to Germany.”
Melnyk can understand the fear of a third world war only to a limited extent. “World War III has already begun. Putin’s attack on Ukraine affects everyone, including the Germans, although not yet militarily,” said Melnyk. The war is directed against the “entire West, against our value system”.