Germany supplies Ukraine with additional armored howitzers

Germany will supply Ukraine with twelve additional armored howitzers worth 150 million euros, for its defense campaign against the Russian attack.

Six modern "PzH 2000" howitzers will be delivered this year and another six next year, announced the Minister of Defense of Germany, Boris Pistorius. So far, Ukraine has received 14 of these armored howitzers from Germany.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius believes that long-term military support for Ukraine is warranted. "We will be able to continue our support until 2026," the Social Democratic politician emphasized at the 24th meeting of the Contact Group for Ukraine, held at the American base in Ramstein (Rheinland-Pfalz). To support the war of Ukrainian troops on the ground, Germany will supply Ukraine with more Type 2000 howitzers.

However, Pistorius emphasized that German military aid will continue to focus on strengthening Ukraine's air defenses, referring in this context to the four IRIS-T air defense systems that the Bundeswehr has already made available to Ukraine for this purpose. These systems "save lives every day and every night," Pistorius said. Ukraine has so far received a total of 24 such systems, also financed by Germany. Two more will be delivered at the end of the year.

Massive Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities
Pistorius stressed that the last few days in particular had "brutally proved" that Russia was expanding its airstrikes against Ukraine. The Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Poltava, in which more than 40 people died, was one of the worst. However, other Ukrainian cities have recently been the target of intense rocket and drone attacks, including Lviv and Kharkiv.

There is no indication that Russia wants to end its aggression, Pistorius said. This can be seen in "Russian bomb terror against civilians". Therefore, Germany will support Ukraine as long as necessary, he said. The sovereignty of this free state must be protected, Pistorius recalled.

Zelenski seeks long-range weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski personally attended the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine. He again called for more military aid, particularly for strengthening his country's air defenses. The world has "sufficient air defense systems" to ensure that "Russian terror" does not succeed, Zelenskiy declared at the start of consultations in Ramstein. More F-16s are needed in the fight against Russian aggression. They are "effective", but the Ukrainian army has very few of these aircraft.

Zelenski also focused on the demand for more long-range weapons to be able to attack military targets on Russian soil. Even before his arrival in Rhineland-Palatinate, Zelenskiy had stressed on the Telegram messaging service that it was important to make decisive decisions in favor of long-range weapons to get closer to a just peace. "We need these tools (...) not only for the pacified territories of Ukraine, but also for the Russian territories, in order to motivate Russia to seek peace," Zelensky said at the start of the Contact Group consultations.

But the use of Western weapons for Ukraine's attacks on Russian territory is controversial. So far, only attacks in the border regions with Russia have been authorized by Ukrainian supporters.

Meeting with Scholzin
Zelenski will travel to Frankfurt am Main next. A meeting with the Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is scheduled there. Scholz has repeatedly assured Ukraine that Germany will not withdraw its support. However, in the face of the budget dispute in the German government, the question has been raised whether Germany will reduce financial aid to Ukraine.

According to Scholz, this year's aid to Ukraine amounts to more than seven billion euros. For the next year, the draft budget foresees about 4 billion euros. However, according to Scholz.it, the aid will also be financed from other sources. According to the decision of the G7 states, Ukraine will receive a loan of about 50 billion dollars (about 45 billion euros) for long-term aid, the interest of which will be financed by the income of the frozen assets of the Russian state.

According to the US government, since the Russian attack on Ukraine, about 280 billion dollars (about 260 billion euros) of Russian central bank funds have been frozen in Western countries. Most of the money is in the EU, about 210 billion euros according to the European Commission. Frozen Russian money generates billions in interest income each year, which is expected to be used for Ukraine in the future. DW