Kyiv hopes to convince Berlin to allow supplies of weapons to Ukraine
Ukraine and Germany can solve the problem of Berlin blocking the purchase of weapons by Ukraine through negotiations, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
"We do have some discussions going on with some members of the Alliance about how this whole system will function. But I am convinced that we should talk about this with them [Germany] now at the bilateral level, as diplomats. Because I don't think it's an unsolvable task. We may well solve it through negotiations," Kuleba said.
"Yesterday, Ms. Annalena Baerbock [German Foreign Minister] and I discussed this issue and agreed that diplomatic negotiations will be enough to look for solutions ," Kuleba added.
The German newspaper Bild reported that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel personally blocked the supply of weapons to Ukraine through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).
Ukrainian President Zelensky, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, noted that Germany had prevented the supply of anti-drone jamming guns and anti-sniper systems to Ukraine.
"Are we, being in the eighth year of the war, not entitled to them? Obviously, we are not. Any democratic country that defends itself against aggression should have the right to acquire such defence instruments. But in some capitals, fear still wins," Zelensky said.
Earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Berlin vetoed Ukraine's purchase of armed systems to counter Russian aggression. Reznikov also said that given that the German government blocks the purchase of lethal weapons, Ukraine will try to acquire them through bilateral agreements with its allies, in particular, with the United States, Britain, Lithuania and France.