The German government has formed another package of military aid to support Ukraine worth about 2.7 billion euros over the coming weeks and months.
Spiegel writes about this with reference to government sources.
The list of new weapons is quite long. Ukraine will receive another 20 Marder armored personnel carriers and 30 Leopard 1 tanks. In addition, the delivery of 18 wheeled howitzers, which has already been announced for the end of 2022, is expected. In addition, the federal government plans to supply four more IRIS-T-SLM air defense systems, 12 IRIS -T-SLS launchers and hundreds of guided missiles for this system.
Berlin also wants to help Ukraine in reconnaissance of enemy positions. The delivery of up to 200 reconnaissance drones is planned. It is also planned to transfer 100 protected combat vehicles, which will primarily be used to transport troops to the front, and more than 100 logistical support vehicles.
This is the largest package of weapons that Germany has provided to strengthen the Ukrainian armed forces since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
With the new arms shipment, the federal government is focusing on two fronts. On the one hand, the ground forces of Ukraine should be strengthened with the help of armored personnel carriers and main battle tanks. In addition, Germany wants to significantly modernize the air defense of Ukraine.
According to the publication, this package will be announced in parallel with the presentation of the Charlemagne Award to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Sunday in Aachen – as a clear symbol of German solidarity with Ukraine. Perhaps Zelenskyі himself will come to Germany for the award ceremony.
It will be recalled that on Friday, the German police announced the strengthening of security measures during Sunday against the background of still unconfirmed reports about the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.
There has been no official confirmation that Volodymyr Zelenskyi will indeed come to Germany – for the first time since the full-scale attack of Russia on Ukraine – so far. At the same time, on Saturday, as is already known, Zelensky is to come to Italy.
It will be recalled that last week it was reported that the President of Ukraine should arrive in Germany on May 13 at the invitation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The next day, Zelensky was to be officially received by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
