TALIN, April 21 (Reuters) – Germany is investigating what additional support and ammunition will be needed for its stockpile of obsolete Marder infantry armored combat vehicles so that Ukraine can use them, Foreign Minister Analena Burbock said.
On the second day of the tour of the Baltic states, Burbock turned to criticism from allies and commentators for Germany’s apparent delay in arms supplies, saying Kyiv should repel Russian attacks. L5N2WJ3HG
“There are no taboos for us regarding armored vehicles and other weapons that Ukraine needs,” she told a news conference with her Estonian counterpart on Thursday.
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Earlier, the Bild newspaper accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of blocking the supply of tanks.
Many analysts say Ukraine urgently needs heavy weapons to repel a Russian invasion that now focuses on occupying positions in the eastern Donbass region.
While Ukraine’s light weapons and tactics have had some success in delaying Russia’s advance, stopping and reversing the invasion will require heavy combat weapons such as tanks and howitzers, they said.
Russia calls its invasion a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject this as a false pretext for an illegal aggressive war. Read more
German Foreign Minister Analena Berbok in Tallinn, Estonia, April 21, 2022 REUTERS / Janis Laizans
But Baerbock said the priority is to ensure that Ukraine quickly receives an older Soviet-designed kit that its military can use without further training, and that it is doing so by replenishing the reserves of allied countries that have with such a weapon, with modern German equipment. .
Germany has agreed on such an exchange with Slovenia, a source from the Berlin government told Reuters.
According to the deal, Slovenia will supply T-72 tanks to Ukraine, the source said, while Berlin is to deliver about 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and about 20 Fuchs armored personnel carriers to Ljubljana in return.
The German armed forces themselves are facing a shortage of equipment, she added, noting that German peacekeeping missions in Africa do not have all the necessary helicopters.
Pressured by journalists whether the German Leopard tank would be sent to Ukraine, she said troops would need training to use such an advanced kit, and that Berlin would pay for that training.
“We are providing 1 billion euros because we need to think not only about the coming days and months, but also about the coming years for the systems that Ukraine needs for defense now, but also for a free Ukraine in the future,” she said.
“We know that every day matters.”
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Report by Alexander Ratz, Sabine Siebold and Andreas Rinke; Writing by Thomas Escrit; edited by Angus McSwon and Bernadette Baum
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