Germany Has Reached Limit in Weapons Supplies to Kiev, Defense Minister Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Germany has given "unbelievably a lot" of weapons to Ukraine from its reserves, but reached its limit and is now trying other ways to support Kiev, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday.

"We will keep up our support for Ukraine, and we have handed over unbelievably a lot from the reserves of the Bundeswehr. But I say at this point quite clearly that we have reached the limit," Lambrecht said during her speech in the Bundestag, noting that she will make sure that the defense of the country and the alliance could be ensured in future.

Lambrecht also stated that there are other ways to support Ukraine, including the so-called circle exchange when Germany provides EU countries with new weapons in exchange for the old ones, which are then delivered to Ukraine. The minister said that they have made progress in this aspect, including Germany's exchange with the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

In late August, German media reported that Ukrainian diplomats had repeatedly asked Germany to provide additional weapons but so far without success. The German defense ministry reportedly justified its refusal to provide heavy military assistance, in particular, by the fact that the German armed forces need weapons to fulfill allied obligations in NATO.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin has been regularly supplying Kiev with "very effective" weapons and vowed to continue the deliveries, but stressed that there should be no escalation.

On September 4, during the talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Scholz refused to promise the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, media reported.