The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann has again demanded more military support for Ukraine from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). This also applies to the delivery of heavy weapons including tanks, said the chairwoman of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung” according to the preliminary report on Friday. “We need to act very quickly now,” she said, referring to the new large-scale Russian offensive looming in eastern Ukraine.
“The Ukrainian army can only counter this with heavy weapons,” warned Strack-Zimmermann. For more military support, the Chancellery must “quickly set the line and coordinate with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Economics”. “The war doesn’t take a break,” the FDP politician countered further hesitation on the part of the federal government.
The defense politician, who visited Ukraine a few days ago, dismissed fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin might interpret the delivery of heavy weapons as Germany’s entry into the war. “We are not and will not be a war party. Ukraine was attacked in violation of international law and may defend itself accordingly, and the West may support it by supplying military material,” Strack-Zimmermann clarified. In addition, Putin is “unpredictable one way or the other”.