Report from the wall street journal, claims that Germany is preventing
Estonia from providing Ukraine with military assistance that has german
origins. According to the report, the US State Department gave Estonia the
green light to ship u.s made weaponry to ukraine while german authorities
refused to issue export permits for the weapons.
Europe and the United States are concerned that moscow was assembling more
than 100,000 troops along the ukrainian border in preparation for an
invasion. If a list of russian demands isn't met, the country has said it
may take unspecified military action but has denied planning an attack.
Germany refuses weapons deliveries to ukraine, although other NATO Allies
including britain and poland have also agreed to export weapons directly to
ukraine. the german government has so far declined to do so.
Germany has not supported the export of lethal weapons in recent years,
german chancellor olaf scholes told a news conference on friday.
Citing estonian and german officials wsj reported that berlin is applying
the same principle to estonia's Arsenal because it originated in germany.
"Hopefully we will get the approval from Germany," Christo en vega advisor
to the estonian defense minister told WSJ.
Estonia has shown that we want to help ukraine in practical terms in any way
we can. German government officials have said they oppose sending weapons to
ukraine as they fear that such deliveries could push tensions higher and
make negotiations more difficult.
Germany is one of the world's top arms producers and exporters with sales
increasing 21 percent from 2016 to 2020, according to the Stockholm
International Peace Research Institute.
All three Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania said in a statement
that they would be sending their US made javelin and stinger missiles. In
light of russia's increase in military pressure in and around ukraine, the
baltic states have decided to answer ukrainian needs and to provide
additional defense related assistance, the statement said.
This aid will further enhance ukraine's capability to defend its territory
and population in case of a possible russian aggression, it added.
"We sincerely hope that ukraine won't have to use these weapons,"
Llithuanian Defense Minister Arvidas Anasazis said. The lithuanian ministry
said the weapons would be delivered in the nearest future.
Meanwhile to justify its stance, the german defense minister says the
government will do everything in its power to escalate the crisis with
russia, but arms transfers to ukraine are not an option.
Medical field facility will be sent to ukraine by germany in the near
future. however despite its concerns about an invasion by Russia, it
continues to refuse the transfer of weapons.
As German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht explained to the sunday
edition of die welt in her country's contribution of 5.3 million euros, 6
billion dollars a complete field hospital will be handed over in february.
For years, Germany has provided respirators and treated seriously injured
ukrainian soldiers in its military hospitals, according to the minister of
defense.
Even though germany is committed to reducing tensions with russia, arms
transfers to ukraine are not an option, according to Lambrecht.
The delivery of weapons would not be helpful at this time, according to the
federal government's consensus, she said.
Germany's refusal to join other nato members in providing weapons to ukraine
has annoyed some allies and raised questions about berlin's resolve in
standing up to russia. The issue rose to the fore over the weekend following
a report that berlin had gone so far as to block Estonia from supplying old
german howitzers to kiev to help defend itself against russian troops
massing near the ukrainian border.
Germany's stance on arms supplies does not correspond to the level of our
relations in the current security situation, ukrainian foreign minister
dimitro kulibas said on twitter.
Ukraine again asked for german defense aid saying it urgently needs 100,000
helmets and protective vests for the volunteers, who are just signing up for
the military to defend their homeland together with the armed forces,
ukrainian ambassador to germany Endridge Melnick told the Handlesblatt
Newspaper on saturday.
The seriousness of the situation, demands an immediate rethink and change of
course from the german coalition government on the issue of arms deliveries
to ukraine, Melnick was quoted as saying.
Kiev will not rest in convincing the german government in the opposition to
deliver defensive weapons to ukraine, he added.
The debate over german weapons was unfolding days after the head of the
German Navy resigned following Criticism at home and abroad for comments he
made on ukraine and russia. Speaking at an event friday in india, Vice
Admiral K. Akim Shane said it was important to have russia on the same side
against china and suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved
respect.
With shoals as social democrats steeped in the legacy of cold war
rapprochement pursued by his predecessor Willie Brandt and the Greens Rooted
in a tradition of pacifism, two out of germany's three governing parties
would balk at the idea of supplying arms to a non-nato country in a conflict
with russia.
But letting estonia pass on the old soviet designed 122 MD-30 Howitzers to
Ukraine might be an acceptable compromise.
German Foreign Minister Angelina Barbic made clear that, qualms about
exporting arms to ukraine aside, Berlin takes a dim view of russia's
behavior.
In recent weeks more than one hundred thousand Russian troops with tanks and
guns have gathered near ukraine for no understandable reason and it's hard
not to see that as a threat, she said during a recent visit to Moscow.
Speaking alongside her russian counterpart whom she referred to as dear
colleague, Berbick acknowledged the suffering and destruction that we
germans brought upon the peoples of the soviet union during the NAZI era,
but warned that germany was willing to consider tough steps if russia acts
against ukraine.
This includes calling into question the future of the new nordstrom 2
pipeline meant to bring much needed natural gas from russia to germany. Such
a move against its biggest energy supplier would come at a high price for
Germany too.
With plans to switch off its last three nuclear power plants this year and
phase out the use of coal by 2030, germany's reliance on gas will increase
in the short term until enough renewable energy comes online, said Georg
Zachmann, a senior fellow at the Brugel Economic Think Tank in Brussels.
Yet German officials believe that being a large customer of russian gas can
give it leverage as Moscow won't want to harm its reputation as a reliable
supplier of gas, painstakingly built up over decades.
