Germany’s Minister of Economics and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck confirmed Thursday new arms deliveries to Ukraine as part of the Russian invasion unleashed on February 24 on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
«We will not stop supplying arms to Ukraine,» Habeck said during an economic conference in Norway’s capital, Oslo, following France’s promise to send armored personnel carriers, as reported by the German news agency DPA.
«We will always adapt our deliveries to the needs of the battlefield,» the German vice-chancellor said, after German official sources said Berlin is holding consultations with France and the United States on new arms deliveries.
Later, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski welcomed the announcement made by the government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the delivery of a Patriot air defense system, although he did not comment on the delivery of Marder infantry fighting vehicles.
«Together with the Iris-T system delivered earlier and the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks, Germany is making an important contribution to ensuring that all Russian missiles are intercepted,» Zelenski wrote on his Twitter profile.
Ukraine has been demanding the delivery of Leopard 2 and Marder battle tanks from Germany for months. The Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, stated in December that his government and the German executive were in dialogue on the matter.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has insisted that his country would not supply tanks and infantry fighting vehicles on its own and pointed out that no other NATO member had so far sent such weaponry to Ukraine.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
