The German Federal Security Council has been accused of blocking the delivery of 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine for more than a month, according to reports in the Ukrainian media.
The online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda claims that both the armored vehicles and the Leopard 1 tanks which had been offered to Ukraine by the defense industry company, Rheinmetall, have been held up by red tape at the German security council.
The vehicles were scheduled to be delivered to Ukraine in several stages, with Rheinmetall requesting six weeks to prepare the first round. However, the Ukrainian newspaper reveals that Rheinmetall’s export application was not officially submitted to the German Federal Security Council until April 22, where it has still not been approved.
German government denies the claim
Spokeswoman for the German government, Christiana Hoffmann, said on Monday that Scholz’s administration is not “blocking the supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine.”
She stressed that “Germany is sending a lot of weapons to Ukraine,” but did not specifically mention the Marder IFVs or the Leopard tanks.
The Ukrainians have been blaming Germany since the beginning of the war for its perceived lack of enthusiasm in its support for the country, and its limited response in the supply of munitions. The tension between the two countries is indicated by the fact that the Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin has previously called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz a “sulky liver sausage.”
