As of: 04/14/2022 5:01 p.m
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba has renewed the demand for heavy weapons from Germany. Ukraine is paying the price of Germany’s hesitant policy with lives, he said daily topics-Interview.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on the federal government to take a quick decision on the issue of arms deliveries. These are historic times and historic times call for difficult decisions. He renewed his call for heavy weapons and tougher sanctions, such as an oil embargo. “Germany is a leading nation in Europe,” said Kuleba, “and we count on this leading role.”
The federal government had long refused arms deliveries to Ukraine, but several politicians recently signaled that serious arms could also be delivered to Ukraine. So far, however, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been vague and reserved.
“I hope that Scholz will make a positive decision,” said Kuleba. During the time that politicians in Germany are discussing this, people are being killed and villages destroyed. “We pay the price with lives,” he said. “We could have avoided war if Germany had allowed arms deliveries earlier.”
“We shouldn’t dig in the past”
In the dispute over the canceled Steinmeier trip, Kuleba campaigned for a normalization of German-Ukrainian relations. “We shouldn’t dig in the past,” Kuleba said im daily topics-Interview and promoted starting a new chapter and looking ahead.
“Only unity can help us defeat Russia and keep Europe safe.” The time for half measures is over. When asked whether Steinmeier was actually uninvited, Kuleba was evasive.
Quarrel over Steinmeier
The dispute over German Ukraine policy had recently come to a head. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wanted to go to Kyiv together with the Presidents of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. However, the Ukrainian government refused Steinmeier’s visit and instead invited Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The background is said to be Steinmeier’s Russia policy and Germany’s hesitant attitude towards arms deliveries and sanctions. Kuleba spoke of a “series of problems” in the past, specifically citing Nord Stream 2 and the debate over arms deliveries.