Kuleba calls on Berlin to help resolve ammunition shortage problem
Dmytro Kuleba (Photo:Kay Nietfeld/Pool/Reuters)
Ukraine needs Germany to send it more artillery shells so it can fight off Russian invasion forces, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with German newspaper Bild am Sonntag on March 12.
Kuleba called on the German government to resolve the issue, noting that during the recent Munich Security Conference German arms manufacturers confirmed their readiness to arrange deliveries, but they need the government’s approval for the contracts.
“I think Germany could really help more with ammunition,” Kuleba said.
“We sat down with Ukrainian representatives and the German armaments industry (...) and German industry, in my presence, asked the German government for one thing: signed contracts. (They said they were) ready to deliver. So, the problem lies with the (German) government.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that his country intends to increase the production of ammunition for the Ukrainian army.
On Nov. 26, 2022, U.S. newspaper The New York Times reported that small NATO member states have exhausted their potential to supply weapons to Ukraine. According to the publication, NATO countries are discussing investing in old factories in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria in order to resume the production of Soviet-caliber 152-mm and 122-mm shells for Ukraine’s still largely Soviet-era artillery forces.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg previously called on the alliance countries to increase the production of weapons to support Ukraine, as NATO has exhausted a large part of its stockpiles of weapons and ammunition.
On Feb. 18, Reuters reported that the countries of the European Union are urgently studying the possibility of joint procurement of 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine.
On Feb. 20, the European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that if the countries fail to provide Ukraine with ammunition, Ukraine might be defeated by Russia.
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