Switzerland Bans Berlin From Re-Exporting Ammunition for Combat Vehicles to Ukraine

ZURICH (Sputnik) - Switzerland has vetoed requests by German authorities to re-export to Ukraine ammunition used in German Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), a representative of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) told Swiss media.

The Marder-type IFVs use ammunition produced in Switzerland, but the Confederation restricts their re-export to conflict zones.

"Both German requests were answered negatively with reference to Swiss neutrality and the criteria for a mandatory refusal under the War Materials Act," the SECO representative was quoted by the newspaper SonntagsZeitung as saying.

On 21 April, Die Welt newspaper reported that the German defence company Rheinmetall, which produces Marder IFVs, has sent an official request to the German government to approve the sale of 100 units of these combat vehicles to Ukraine.

On 20 April, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany was considering the list of weapons that could been delivered to Ukraine as part of Berlin’s military assistance to Kiev. He pledged to proceed with the payments for weaponry supplied shortly after the decision on the final list is made, with "no more waiting."

At the same time, Germany has repeatedly declined to supply Ukraine with particular weaponry it had requested, including heavy arms and artillery weapons. Earlier in the month, Germany denied Kiev’s plea for Marder infantry fighting vehicles, but delivered around 500 Stingers, nearly 2,000 Strela anti-aircraft missiles and over 1,000 anti-tank weapons.

Since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine, the West, including Germany, have been supplying Ukraine with various types of lethal weaponry, including heavy arms, such as anti-tank missiles, fighter jets, missile systems and armoured vehicles. Nevertheless, German authorities, particularly Scholz, have been criticized by Kiev and some Western allies for insufficient military support for Ukraine and for not taking a strong enough stance against Russia.

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. Moscow said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine.