The Ukrainian envoy to Germany has urged the country to speed up its weapons deliveries to Kiev. In an interview with Die Welt newspaper on Sunday, the newly appointed ambassador, Aleksey Makeev, said he wants Berlin to do more to help amid the conflict with Russia.
“I don’t want to put diplomatic pressure on the federal government, I want to get Germany to deliver what it has faster. Because we don’t have time to wait for weapons any longer,” Makeev stated.
Although Die Welt touted him as a “more diplomatic” and “cooperative” person than his scandal-plagued predecessor, Andrey Melnik, the new envoy said he plans to deal with the issue of arms deliveries in a straightforward manner. Melnik was known for repeatedly blasting Berlin over its supposed reluctance to send more weapons to Kiev, as well as insulting German officials, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“I’m addressing things head-on and I’d like us to be helped more,” Makeev said.
The list of weapons that Kiev wants from from Berlin includes “more anti-aircraft systems, self-propelled howitzers, Gepard [anti-aircraft tanks], and ammunition,” he noted. The two sides are still in talks over deliveries of Marder infantry fighting vehicles and Leopard tanks, the ambassador added.
The envoy also criticized Berlin’s decision not to send US-made Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine and send them to Poland instead.
“The weapons are needed there, not in Poland or Germany,” Makeev said, while expressing hope that Ukraine’s borders will soon be seen as “NATO’s eastern flank.”
On Saturday, Tobias Lindner, a parliamentary secretary of state for the German Foreign Ministry, said that the Patriots are a part of NATO’s collective defense system, and Berlin cannot simply hand them over to a third party outside of the military bloc, such as Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West against pumping weapons into the country, arguing that this will only prolong the conflict and “bring more suffering” to Ukraine.