Germany not to supply Kiev with weapons to strike Russia: Scholz
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlines that he follows in the US footsteps with regard to his stance on providing arms to Ukraine.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leave after attending a joint news conference in Kiev, Ukraine, February 14, 2022 (Reuters)
Germany will not be supplying weapons to Ukraine that would allow for strikes on Russian territory, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.
"I believe that this principle should be followed by everyone else," German newspaper T-Online quoted Scholz as saying.
The German Chancellor then underlined that Berlin's goal is preventing Russian President Vladimir Putin from "winning the war [...] so that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine is preserved."
"The President of the United States formulated this quite clearly: he said that he would not supply weapons with which to shell the territory of Russia. I consider this a principle that we all agree on. And therefore we look at what others are doing," he underlined.
"Germany will not act alone and will focus on the actions of its allies," Sholz noted.
With Berlin acting this way, the German leader explained, the ongoing war would be contained and would not escalate from a Ukraine war into a "completely different war."
During his first visit to the training program of Ukrainian soldiers in Germany, Scholz underscored that his country would continue supplying Ukraine with weapons.
He reiterated what his government had said regarding supplying Kiev with the Flakpanzer Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, howitzers, and the Iris-T infrared air-defense system. According to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the Iris-T should be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Baerbock had said Wednesday that Germany could not send more weapons to Ukraine from its own military stocks, because it was already facing serious equipment shortages.
"We would like to support Ukraine militarily with everything we have. But unfortunately, in the current situation, we have an absolute deficit in our own stocks," Baerbock told public broadcaster ZDF at the time.
Read next: Germany supplies Ukraine with weapons its army doesn't possess
Germany also approved a Cobra artillery radar to Ukraine last month, reportedly due for delivery in September. According to German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Kiev has already signed the contract for the materials and troops should be starting training for "this highly complex system."
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Germany has joined the frenzy of Western sanctions against Russia, with its most recent one coming into effect last month, and supplied Ukrainian forces with a significant amount of weapons.
Scholz has however faced criticism in Germany over supposedly not doing enough to support Ukraine from both his fellow coalition members, including Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, as well as the ex-Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin, Andrey Melnyk, who even labeled Scholz an "offended liverwurst" over his refusal to visit Kiev in May.
Half of the German population has expressed its opposition to delivering heavy arms to Ukraine, per a poll conducted by the German Institute for New Social Answers.
Berlin vowed in June to send Kiev one Iris-T unit for free, but Ukraine requested at least a dozen of the most advanced air-defense systems and has offered to purchase the rest directly from the manufacturer.
