Angela Merkel, during her chancellorship, responded with a categorical refusal to Vladimir Zelensky's request for help with the supply of military equipment, the media write. Germany stubbornly rejected all requests of this nature throughout the entire period of the armed conflict in Donbass. Will the situation change under Olaf Scholz and why other countries actually adhere to the German line - in the material of Gazeta.Ru. During the leadership of Germany, Angela Merkel personally blocked the supply of arms to Ukraine through NATO, writes the German tabloid Bild, citing sources. According to these data, in August 2021, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky asked Merkel during her visit to Kiev to lift the ban on supplies, to which she, according to one of those present at the meeting, said in an “icy voice” that it was “out of the question”.

Prior to this, in May, Berlin used its veto to block the supply of American Barrett rifles and Lithuanian anti-drone rifles already paid for by Kiev.

Moreover, according to the tabloid, the Merkel government forced the Netherlands to support this decision, thus creating the illusion that it was not the only opponent of the sale.

Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov has already criticized the Merkel government. He argued that it prevented Kiev from acquiring, through the Procurement and Procurement Alliance Agency (NSPA), large-caliber and drone-targeting rifles. According to Bild, at the end of November Berlin lifted its veto on the transfer of anti-drone rifles to Kiev, but the supply of American rifles is still blocked.

Now the question arises as to what policy the cabinet of the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will pursue.

Many experts, like the Ukrainians themselves, tend to believe that under Scholz Berlin is unlikely to change its position on the provision of weapons to Kiev.

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In particular, the Ukrainian ambassador to the country Andriy Melnyk spoke about this in an interview with the Zerkalo Nedeli newspaper.

As he noted, Kiev did not receive official comments on the reasons for the blocking, but at an informal level they made it clear that this was due to the threat of a potential military escalation on the contact line in Donbass.

Despite Melnik's confidence that Berlin will maintain such an "illogical" position, as it seems to him, under Scholz, Kiev intends to continue to convince the German side that the country needs weapons not for provocations, but to "contain new aggression."

As Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz will strive to continue Angela Merkel's policy towards Ukraine, including with regard to the supply of arms, said Artem Sokolov, a researcher at the IMI Center for European Studies at MGIMO.

"Berlin can approve separate deliveries of weapons, recognized as" defensive ", but a massive build-up of military exports to Ukraine will contradict the ideological principles of the Social Democrats," he said.

"Germany does not want to create an environment in which Ukraine could really fight with Russia, and does not want to contribute to the heavy NATO weapons getting into the territory of Ukraine",

- said the scientific director of the Russian-German Forum, Alexander Rahr.

Long negotiations

Ukraine has been asking Germany for military assistance for a long time. Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his May interview with FAZ recalled that Germany has not provided "any weapons, no military assistance" since the beginning of the conflict in 2014. He expressed gratitude to Berlin for other forms of support, but noted that “Germany can do more,” for example, transfer “powerful ships”, missile and patrol boats, assault rifles, radio-technical products and various military equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Shortly before that, Ukraine had asked Germany to supply defensive weapons to protect the Black Sea coast from invasion: corvettes, air defense systems, parts of anti-ship missiles and demining tools. Sources of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted that German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas opposed this, and Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer supported this idea.

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Maas has spoken out on this issue more than once. In June, he said that Berlin supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but opposed the provision of any military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, noting that "the conflict can only be resolved through political means." Later, he expressed a similar point of view at a press briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitry Kuleba. Arms supplies to Kiev would worsen relations between Moscow and Berlin within the framework of the Normandy format, Maas said.

In addition, the official authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany noted that Berlin does not supply weapons to regions where there are hot spots.

Where to look for help for Ukraine

Reznikov promised that Kiev would seek the acquisition of weapons in the framework of bilateral agreements with allies, for example, with the United States, Great Britain, Lithuania and France.

But even here, as it turned out, not everything is so simple. In mid-December, NBC TV channel, citing sources, reported that the United States had prepared a military aid package for Ukraine in the amount of $ 200 million, but suspended the process of its delivery. Moreover, the freeze allegedly occurred despite the requests of Kiev and the calls of some American legislators. Journalists say the decision was made to allow time for a diplomatic settlement of the situation between Russia and Ukraine and to reduce tensions.

Since 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been receiving military assistance from several NATO states at once, including from the largest supplier - Washington. According to the draft US military budget, in 2022 Ukraine should receive weapons and services in the amount of $ 300 million, previously about $ 250 million were allocated annually to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the same time, Ukraine does not receive this money directly: the Pentagon trains Ukrainian military personnel with these funds and supplies Kiev with products of its own defense sector.

The German government is not the only one in Europe that opposes the provision of weapons to Ukraine, even the United States will not supply it with heavy weapons, Alexander Rahr is convinced.

“This is not a German position, in fact it is the point of view of NATO and the European Union. If weapons are supplied, it means that the country that does it becomes part of the conflict itself in the event of war. This country will have to send there its technicians, advisers, people who know how to work with this weapon and will be able to teach the Ukrainian side to use it. And apart from the Poles, the Balts and the British, who are not members of the EU, no one in the West wants to deal with such issues and will not, ”the expert said.

The position of Germany may cause criticism from a number of EU countries, such as Poland or the Baltic states, confirmed Artem Sokolov. However, he called it unlikely that this will have a significant impact on the actions of Berlin.

bbabo.Net