Germany Throws a Wrench in Ukrainian Defense, Blocks Transfer of Soviet-Made Howitzers

Germany, a partner with Russia in the controversial NordStream Pipeline, has blocked Ukraine from receiving military support from the Baltic nation of Estonia. Estonia wanted to send weapons that originally came from…

IJR SyndicatedJan 23, 20222 min read

Sponsored

partnered with

Russia

in the

NordStream

pipeline project to ship natural gas under the Baltic Sea. That was stymied when former President Donald Trump was in office but moved forward after President

Joe Biden

took office.

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Germany now stands alone as one of the few North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries refusing to assist Ukraine as fears grow that Russia will use the troops surrounding three sides of Ukraine to launch an invasion.

“Blocking arms exports at a time when Ukraine is facing invasion is not a good policy,” said Gustav Gressel of the European Council on Foreign Relations — a pan-European think tank.

“Germany, they have a lot of hesitation to deliver to us,” Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.

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Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, said Germany has a blood debt it should pay.

“This responsibility should be toward the Ukrainian people, who lost at least 8 million lives during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine,” he said.

But Germany said it is simply doing business as usual by rejecting the call for helping Ukraine.

“Our restrictive position is well known and is rooted in history,” Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said.

Estonia is not giving up.

“Hopefully, we will get the approval from Germany,” said Kristo Enn Vaga, an adviser to the Estonian defense minister. “Estonia has shown that we want to help Ukraine in practical terms in any way we can.”

Estonia wants to send the D-30, a howitzer that fires a 122-mm shell around 20 kilometers. The Soviet-made howitzers were passed along from the former East Germany to Finland to tiny Estonia.

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Although Germany said it will not send weapons, it did indicate it will help Ukraine by sending a field hospital to treat the casualties that may arise, according to Reuters.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.