The Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefantschuk, is again urging the rapid delivery of the weapons promised by Germany to ward off the Russian attack. “Now it’s also about the decisions being implemented quickly,” said Stefantschuk to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “The weapons must be delivered quickly.”
Stefantschuk is currently visiting Berlin. Among other things, he called for the delivery of German Leopard and Marder tanks to Ukraine and speed up the delivery of weapons. On Friday he wanted to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. “I would like to invite Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kyiv to give a speech in front of the Ukrainian parliament,” Stefantschuk told the Funke newspapers.
The speaker of the parliament also welcomed the recent announcement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to send weapons such as the Iris-T air defense system to Ukraine: “It is very important for us that the ice is broken and that Ukraine has the chance to use the latest and get the most modern weapons from Germany.”
On Wednesday in the Bundestag, the chancellor announced the delivery of the Iris-T and a locating radar to be used to detect artillery positions. Germany also wants to deliver four multiple rocket launchers from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine.
In the past few weeks, the federal government had already made two commitments for the delivery of heavy weapons: 50 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks and 7 Panzerhaubitzen 2000 – modern artillery pieces with a range of 40 kilometers – are to be delivered to the Ukraine. But they haven’t gotten there yet. The opposition has repeatedly accused Scholz of hesitation in recent weeks.
More on the Ukraine war on Tagesspiegel Plus:
Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk told the editorial network Germany: “The fact that the Chancellor has given the green light to deliver a unit of the Iris air defense system is a great leap forward, which the Ukrainians welcome.”
