We reached limit in arms supplies to Kiev - German Defense Minister

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The country has reached a limit in weapons supplies to Ukraine, and the parties are now discussing direct deliveries from defense enterprises, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said in an interview on Saturday.

"I must be honest that in terms of supplies from the Bundeswehr’s reserves, we have now reached the limit. After all, the troops must remain able to guarantee the defense of the country and the allies. However, this does not mean that we cannot do anything more for Ukraine. Therefore, we also specified what exactly the industry can supply directly," Lambrecht told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, noting that her country is coordinating the matter with Ukraine.

Germany will send 2,000 additional anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, a parliamentary source had told AFP on March 23.

The Ukrainian forces have already received 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger-type surface-to-air missile launchers from the German army.

Berlin has also provided around 500 Strela surface-to-air missiles out of 2,700 promised, at that time.

Russia launched a special military operation for several reasons, including NATO's eastward expansion. Other reasons were the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.

In response, the US and its allies have rolled out comprehensive sanctions, including restrictions on the Russian central bank, export control measures, SWIFT cutoff for select banks, and closure of airspace to all Russian flights. Many of their companies have suspended their Russian operations.