Stocks not exhausted?
Germany delivers 2,000 rocket-propelled grenades to Ukraine
03/23/2022, 6:39 p.m
Just a few days ago it seemed as if the Bundeswehr could not send any more weapons to Ukraine. Now the turnaround: while Foreign Minister Baerbock announces the transport of further anti-aircraft missiles, Defense Minister Lambrecht is working on the delivery of hundreds of rocket-propelled grenades.
The Ministry of Defense wants to supply Ukraine with more rocket-propelled grenades from Bundeswehr stocks for defense in the war that Russia started in 2000. Minister Christine Lambrecht’s department requested this from the Federal Security Council, according to information from the dpa. The Ukrainian armed forces have already received 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 “Stinger” surface-to-air missiles from Bundeswehr stocks, as well as 500 of around 2,700 Strela missiles from old stocks.
Just a few days ago, it looked as if the Bundeswehr would not be able to provide Ukraine with any more weapons. “The possibilities of the Bundeswehr are exhausted,” Lambrecht said on Deutschlandfunk on Sunday. “We’re exploring what other options there are.”
Baerbock: “We don’t have enough”
According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Germany is currently also supplying other Strela anti-aircraft missiles. “The other Strela deliveries are on the way,” said the Green politician in the afternoon in the Bundestag. Last Wednesday, the minister defended herself against criticism that Ukraine was not being sufficiently supported. “Believe me, we’re doing everything. If we could deliver more weapons, we would do it,” said Baerbock at the current hour in the Bundestag. Defense Minister Lambrecht checked what Germany could deliver. “Honesty also includes: We don’t have enough,” said Baerbock. Funds have been made available so that Ukraine can buy from armaments companies itself.
The Union accused the traffic light coalition of not providing sufficient help to Ukraine in its defensive struggle. “The Ukrainians want to oppose and resist here. We shouldn’t leave them alone,” warned CDU European politician Gunther Krichbaum. He accused the federal government of being too hesitant to deliver weapons.
If the Bundeswehr should not have anything left in its stocks to sell, the German armaments industry could supply new weapons. The CDU politician accused the federal government of a lack of realism. “And this absence costs lives, every day, every hour.”