Berlin
Cnn
–
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will leave Berlin with a new bunch of weapons of $ 5 billion ($ 5.7 billion) while trying to build his Arsenal of the countryAnd its ability to produce weapons at home.
The off -competition agreement in the package announced in the German capital is concentrated on Wednesday around Germany funding the joint production of long -range missiles in Ukraine which would allow Kyiv to hit targets deeply in Russia.
The announcement was also included in air defense systems, weapons, ammunition, “command and operational” capacities and medical assistance.
An important aspect was missing. There had been great expectations before the press conference according to which Merz announced the transfer or approval of the use by Ukraine of the long German Taurus missiles.
Merz had been very strong to ensure that Ukraine received the bull during the electoral campaign against Olaf Scholz, the former chancellor, of the Social Democrats. Scholz and the party were very reluctant to send the weapons, fearing that this could increase the conflict even more.
It seems that the own coalition that gave birth to Merz with the Social Democrats – now the Junior Government partners – seems to have its own significant disagreement on the Taurus.
A member of the Merz party, Christian Democrats, tweeted on Tuesday: “I still see no unit within the coalition and no political will to respond in an appropriate manner, with strength and coherence to the massive climbing of Russia.”
The system would allow Ukraine to strike targets far beyond the capacities of the British shade of the storm and the ATACAM missiles of American manufacturing.
But the shoulder standing with Zelensky in Berlin, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “We will extend this support so that Ukraine, now and in the future, can continue to defend itself against Russian aggression.”
Merz added that “it is the start of a new phase of industrial military cooperation between our countries that has a lot of potential”.
However, in accordance with a new Edict by the Chancellor and his new government, the tangible details of this agreement were not to come. He made the conscious decision to retain information on the exchanges of arms in order to ensure “strategic ambiguity”.
The agreement nevertheless means a major step in deepening cooperation between Germany and Ukraine, in particular in terms of arms supply.
He also marked the third meeting in as many weeks between the two leaders – particularly significant since Merz has only been chancellor for three weeks.
A later declaration published by the German Defense Ministry said that it provided for “investing more directly in Ukrainian production in the future”.
Zelensky seemed to refer to today’s agreements before leaving Kyiv for the German capital. In his night speech on Tuesday, he said: “Attack drones, interceptors, cruising missiles, Ukrainian ballistic systems – these are the key elements. We have to make them all. ”
The German Decision of the Ministry of Defense suggested that some of these systems may be close to the deployment. “A large number of long-range weapons (are) to produce during this year,” he read. “The first of these systems could be deployed by the Ukrainian armed forces in a few weeks.”
The Kremlin responded quickly. “This is an entirely irresponsible position of Germany. Instead of trying to support a peaceful process, they put fuel on the flame,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday.
“They simply try to provoke a new war, thus increasing their indirect involvement in this military affair,” he added.
Germany has long been one of the most generous supporters in Ukraine in terms of assured assistance. In military and humanitarian assistance, according to figures from the Kiel Institute, Germany ranks second behind the United States.
In Berlin, Zelensky and Merz spoke of their frustration towards Russia concerning peace negotiations, in particular a promise concerning a memorandum from Moscow following a call between Putin and American president Donald Trump on May 19, which does not yet seem to be materialized.
Merz said: “I would like to thank the American president in recent weeks. Moscow on the other hand plays for time. The memorandum has still not been shared.” The chief of Germany added that recent attacks across Ukraine “speak the language of aggression”.
