Howitzer of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr seen before being loaded into Lithuania at the Bundeswehr military base in Münster, Germany, February 14, 2022. REUTERS / Fabian Bimmer
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BERLIN, April 29 (Reuters) – Germany is considering sending long-range howitzers to Ukraine, a security source told Reuters on Friday, confirming a report published by the Welt am Sonntag just days after Berlin first decided to deliver. heavy weapons of Kyiv.
The move was followed by warnings from the Kremlin that Western arms supplies to Ukraine posed a threat to the European continent’s security “and provoked instability.” Read more
Ukraine’s pleas for heavy weapons have intensified after Moscow shifted its offensive to Donbass, an eastern region with a predominantly flat, open terrain considered more suitable for tank battles than the northern areas around the capital Kyiv, where much of the the early battles took place.
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Berlin is in talks with the Dutch government to supply the 2000 Panzerhaubitze to Ukraine, the source said, citing one of the most powerful artillery weapons in the Bundeswehr’s stockpile, which could hit targets within 40km (25 miles).
The Dutch are seeking to supply “a limited number” of the same howitzers to Ukraine, the ANP news agency reported on Tuesday, as Germany offered to provide training and ammunition for weapons produced by German defense company KMW.
Critics, including Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, have accused Berlin of withdrawing heavy weapons from Ukraine and other measures that could help Kyiv repel Russian forces, such as an embargo on Russian energy imports.
Most of the heavy weapons that NATO countries have sent to Ukraine so far are Soviet-made weapons that are still in the inventory of Eastern European NATO member states, but the United States and some other allies have begun supplying Western howitzers to Kyiv. .
On Thursday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance was ready to maintain its support for Ukraine in the war against Russia for years, including helping Kyiv move from Soviet-era weapons to modern Western weapons and systems. Read more
Moscow describes its actions in Ukraine as a “special military operation” to “denationalize” the country.
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Report by Sabine Siebold Writing by Rachel Moore and Miranda Murray; Edited by Nick McPhee
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