Russian invasion: Baerbock: Without heavy weapons, the suffering of the Ukrainians would be greater

Russian invasion: Baerbock: Without heavy weapons, the suffering of the Ukrainians would be greater

With a view to arms deliveries to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is sticking to the course of the federal government. Criticism comes from the Union.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has defended the German government’s decision to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine. “We also bear responsibility for inaction,” said the Green politician on the ARD program “Anne Will”.

“If we had made the decision now that we would not deliver any more weapons, no heavy weapons, then we would give more places in Ukraine into the hands of the Russian President. (…) If we didn’t do anything, the suffering of the Ukrainians would be much, much worse.” That is why the federal government took this next step.

The CDU foreign politician Johann Wadephul doubted that the promised delivery of old Gepard anti-aircraft tanks is the right step. These are “the most complex weapon system that the army had”. You need at least six months of training to be able to use it responsibly. “Otherwise it’s irresponsible.” The cheetah will not be of use to the Ukrainian armed forces until autumn or early winter. “It doesn’t seem to me that this has been thought through.” He would “rather want to attribute the ignorance of the Minister of Defense” to the fact that this system has now been chosen.

The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said that the discussion in the federal government in recent weeks had been bad. Every other government in Germany would have discussed what to do, “because this situation is of course such a blatant situation”. The chairwoman of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag emphasized: “It is important that we are now walking in step with the Europeans – to stay in the picture – that we are not always the ones who lag behind a bit.”

Source: Stern

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts