In a major shift, Germany will send weapons to Ukraine - ABC News
By: ABC News
The German weapons will greatly aid the Ukrainians defense. Will it be sufficient to forestall the Russian onslaught?
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S E E D E D C O N T E N T
VIENNA -- In a significant shift, the German government said Saturday it will send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, which is fighting to keep Russia from invading its capital city. Germany is also ready to also support some restrictions of the SWIFT global banking system for Russia, officials said.
Germany's chancellery announced Saturday evening that it will send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 "Stinger" surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine "as quickly as possible."
"The Russian invasion of Ukraine marks a turning point. It threatens our entire post-war order," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement. "In this situation, it is our duty to help Ukraine, to the best of our ability, to defend itself against Vladimir Putin's invading army."
The news came shortly after the German economy and climate ministry said in a Saturday evening statement that Germany is allowing the Netherlands to ship 400 German-made anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. The government has also approved the shipment of 9 D-30 howitzers and ammunition originally from Estonia.
Germany had long stuck to a policy of not exporting deadly weapons to conflict zones, including Ukraine. As recently as Friday, government officials said they would abide by that policy.
But the country — which has the strongest economy in the 27-nation European Union — has faced criticism from Ukrainian officials and other allies that it has not acted decisively enough to help Ukraine fend off the Russian invasion. Previously, Germany contributed 5,000 helmets to Ukraine's defense, a move that was mocked on Twitter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the news of weapons shipments, posting praise for Scholz on Twitter: "Keep it up, Chancellor @OlafScholz! Anti-war coalition in action!"
In addition, the German economy and climate ministry said Saturday that Germany will send 14 armored vehicles and up to 10,000 tons of fuel to Ukraine.
"After Russia's shameless attack, Ukraine must be able to defend itself," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement. "The federal government is therefore supporting Ukraine in providing urgently needed material."
And after earlier opposing the prospect of banning Russia from the SWIFT global financial system, Baerbock and Habeck said that Germany supports a "targeted and functional restriction" of SWIFT.
What is needed is a strategy to "limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people," Baerbock and Habeck said.
Separately on Saturday, the United States announced $350 million in aid to Ukraine, totaling $1 billion in security assistance since President Joe Biden took office. The additional aid includes "anti-armor, small arms and various munitions, body armor and related equipment," said John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary. A senior defense official said the assistance, which includes Javelin anti-tank weapons, will be delivered to Ukraine in phases and as soon as possible. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
Other nations pledged military aid. Italy earlier this week announced it will send nonlethal military equipment such as de-mining equipment and protective devices for soldiers. France announced that requests for equipment by Ukraine are under study. Before the invasion, France supplied some 100 million euros in arms to Ukraine, including short-range defensive missiles, Herve Grandjean, spokesman for the ministry of the armies, said this week.
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500 "Stinger" missiles may keep Russian helicopters away from Ukrainians cities and keep Russian warplanes above 10,000 feet. Without air supremacy, the Russians will have a much more difficult time.
Putin bet the dacha Ukraine and the European Union would fold quickly. We will see. My read is that this is going to unfold way slower than Putin estimated..
I think you are correct.
The longer it goes more wild cards get drawn.
It is not going to end quickly or easily. If the Russians gain control, they can expect to face a prolonged insurgency and resistance campaign. I don't think that Putin will hesitate to attempt to brutalize the civilian population into submission.
I believe you're accurate in your assessment.
read today that Russia is considering bringing back the death penalty, i think that ties in with what you say about brutilizing the civilian population to submission.
thing is it wasn't too long ago they abolished the death penalty , dissidents and partisans take heed.
I have no doubt that any captured Ukrainian that Putin labels a Nazi will be executed. Also, any dissident Russian that Putin calls a traitor.
But if they gain total control and then set up a Puppet Government and withdrew-- the casualties will be pro-Russian Ukranians-- not Russians!
Putin doesn't want to have Russian troops occupy Ukraine-- he just wants to assure that the country is run by a preo-Russian government.
A Ukrainian puppet gov't would fulfill his conditions-- and in addition withdrawing Russian troops can amke them available to use on the next country Putin wants to attack!
I think we should pay attention to what they do-- not what they say!
(Unless we beleive that Putin's government is so honourable that they won't kill people who go against the government because after all-- they have noofficial death penalty.
(Personally I don't trust Putin-- whether there's officially a death penalty or not....I don't think that Putin is such an honorablemman....and the rule fo law mans nothing to him...he is a total scoundral and a tyrant!
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Yes, that was initial plan. That's not on the table at this point given Ukrainian resistance.
Over 6000 Russians have been arrested in anti-war protests in the last 4 days. Also several Russian news sites have been hacked and are displaying anti-war messages. This death penalty news sounds like desperation on Putin's part.
Im going to bet its more than that . thats just what the state authorized news is reporting .
something i saw reported that any dissent of the action , would be treated as a crime against the state , and any help of any kind would be charged as treason against the state .
way i read that is , dissent would be viewed as helping the opposition and is thus treason .
i will let others decide what they think it means for themselves .
dont know about anyone else but im starting to think im hearing and reading echos of voices from the 60s.70s and 80s of the old soviet union .
Switzerland just announced that it will enforce all sanctions against Russia.
This is truly an amazing move by Switzerland.
An absolutely astounding move...
Yep that is becoming plain every day this continues... Dreams of world power, along with the gulag.... one of the few Nations that still think in that fashion, I doubt many Russian citizens think that way though...
The D-30 howitzer is an artillery piece from the Soviet era ... in this case, revenge is a dish best served hot.
Indeed it is and it is still manufactured and is used in many different militaries. It's a 122mm with a range of up to 20 k's.
Good news here is other countries that are supporting Ukraine and what they are supplying.
BELGIUM
Belgium has accepted to provide 3,800 tonnes of fuel. Will also supply 2,000 machine guns to the Ukrainian army. Further analysis of applications continues.
Belgium will deploy 300 troops in Romania as part of NATO efforts to strengthen its eastern flank, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Saturday, as Russia pounded Ukrainian cities with artillery and cruise missiles for a third day.
"Belgium assumes its responsibility within NATO Rapid Response, of which elements were activated yesterday. In the current phase, 300 Belgian soldiers will be deployed in Romania," he said on Twitter.
Belgium will also support the Ukrainian forces with 2,000 machine guns and 3,800 tons of fuel, according to De Croo, who added that the government in Brussels was looking into further requests for help from the government in Kyiv.
NETHERLANDS
The Dutch government will supply 50 Panzerfaust-3 anti-tank weapons and 400 rockets, the ministry said in a letter to parliament.
The Netherlands is also jointly considering with Germany sending a Patriot air defense system to a NATO battle group in Slovakia, it said.
The Netherlands will also supply 200 air defense rockets to Ukraine as quickly as possible, the Dutch government said in a letter to parliament on Saturday.
It also said it will move Dutch embassy staff from the western Ukrainian city of Lviv to Jaroslaw, across the border in Poland, due to deteriorating security.
Based on requests from Ukraine "the Netherlands will provide 200 Stinger air defense rockets," the letter said.
"Along with our allies, the Defence Ministry aims to deliver these goods as quickly as possible."
The missiles are in addition to other equipment already promised by the Netherlands earlier this month, including rifles, ammunition, radar systems and mine-detecting robots.
CZECH REPUBLIC
The Czech government also approved on Saturday sending weapons and ammunition worth 188 million crowns ($8.57 million) to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's attack, the Czech Defence Ministry said.
The shipment, which includes machine guns, assault rifles and other light weapons, will be delivered by the Czech side to a location picked by Ukraine , the ministry said.
"Our help is not over!" the ministry said on Twitter.
FRANCE
France has decided to send defensive military equipment to Ukraine to support the country against Russia's invasion, a French army spokesman said on Saturday, adding that the issue of sending offensive arms was still under consideration.
"You can imagine that shipping the equipment is complicated at the moment," a spokesman for the French army's Chief of Staff told reporters at a briefing.
SLOVAKIA
Slovakia will send artillery ammunition and fuel worth a total of 11 million euros ($12.39 million) to Ukraine, Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Saturday.
Nad said the shipment includes 12,000 rounds of 120-millimeter caliber ammunition, 10 million liters (2.64 million US gallons) of diesel fuel and 2.4 million liters of aircraft fuel.
Estonia will send Javelin anti-armor missiles , while Latvia and Lithuania will send Stinger antiaircraft missiles.
If this lasts for very long, somebody is going to have to think about sending and distributing food and medical supplies. I'm sure shipments have been disrupted, and if power is also disrupted, perishables will go bad. And it won't take long for medical supplies to be depleted caring for the wounded.
Yes, that is true and could become critical in a few days.
The Ukrainians are taking their pets with them and Poland, Romania and Slovakia are allowing them to bring in their pet without required papers, (shot record etc)...The people tending to the shelters throughout Ukraine said they will not leave their animals and are already rationing the food as they have no idea when and where they can get more.
Damn, the shelter people are staying with the animals in their care risking their lives...COURAGE and HUMANITY.
I saw that Poland had announced it was expediting crossing for pets. I'm glad other countries are doing the same.
Anoon yes was thinking of the animals as well as the people. We have sent a plane with medical supplies etc as that is about all we can do from here...
My SIL rellies are now on a train heading for Poland, but thousands are waiting to get thru and they may have to walk the last kilometres to get there...
Plus reports here the soldiers on Snake Island who told the Russian warships to go fuck themselves, maybe still alive...Bloody hope so...
Anoon...
Australia in breaking news is now sending weapons to the Ukraine via the UK and USA and NATO...
Not sure how that works but very pleased to hear it...
Up yours Putin!!
Kav , just an update for you from what i see on the air traffic app i have , it seems that most air travel is now being routed out of europe going south through the hungary , slovac areas , hitting the black sea and hugging the turkish coast. any traffic going north or east are appearing to follow very narrow flight corridors , there is absolutely no traffic being show over ukraine at all , belerus , and the enclave between poland and latvia , direct flight routes to moscow only show activity. keep in mind many countries are placing restrictions and bans on russian civilian flights .
for those that wish to see it yourselves , just go to your app place for a smart phone , android google play , and apples app store for an apple product , look for flightradar 24 ( one word ) its free, and download , once open skip through them asking if you want to buy a package , and it will open in your locale ,you can shrink the screen then finger your way to the area you want to see. it will show you air traffic , to id a specific flight , simply click on the plane icon on screen and info will come up. pinch screen to shrink , spread fingers to enlarge , its an easy app.
i know something will be up if the military planes i have been watching suddenly go dark and dont show up, thats my reasoning at least , as long as i see them outside the affected area , things are static .
A number of countries have closed their airspace to Russian planes. The latest that I read about was Latvia and Lithuania at 2200 GMT and Estonia is expected to follow suit.
That could get interesting , russia has that little enclave on the baltic , that i mentioned between Poland and Lithuania .
So it appears the scandinavian countries and the baltic states , are kinda giving moscow the side eye, and the one country , belerus is kinda stuck going wtf .....
Belerus has a very strongly pro-Russian government-- and a horrendous dictator. (In fact I believe that some of the heavy Russian armor on the Ukrainian border is stationed just inside of Belarus.
installed by who and with whose blessing?
I read that as well, and it was there according to the government of the country as part of a joint nation exercise.
i would say thats convenient as to the timing .
Belarus is a Russian satellite.
Yesterday they voted to hold nuclear weapons into their constitution.
Obviously Trump's efforts to weaken NATO haven't been as sucessful as he had hoped!
i dont think , imo , that he did weaken NATO, he did put the slacker member nations on notice though , and its showing with what has happend so far .
It is pretty clear that Trump wanted to withdraw the U.S. from NATO and end the organization itself, which is what his ally Putin wants.
Really?
All it would have taken is for Trump to have given the word, that's it, just like de Gaulle pulled the French out during the '60's... He never in his entire term as president ever mentioned pulling out of NATO... All he did was the same thing Eisenhower did in the late '50's early '60's, insist that the NATO members pay their full fair share...
NATO is an opt in organization if anyone wants out all they have to do is say the word... So Mark is absolutely correct...
Pretty clear? I would like to know the governmental source for that one... Do you have one?
yep, one should really take anybody based on what they do and not what they say. Yes, Trump called NATO obsolete, called it an unfair drain on the American taxpayer and as ineffective as NAFTA. But at the same time he spent more money and sent more troops to NATO. He pushed NATO members hard to meet their financial obligations based on the NATO treaty.
That's the ticket my friend, watch what they do rather than listen to what they say especially to the media... {chuckle}
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Yes, his calls for NATO members to increase military spending and live up to their commitments would surely make NATO weaker.
You're never correct about anything and every comment you make is bullshit. And every one on here knows it.
Yes, really.
All I can say to this is that it really doesn't take long for people to go back to their political hate does it...
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But of even MORE importance..
GERMANY has now said it has agreed to starting the process to restrict Russia's access to Swift... Germany was the major roadblock to kicking the Russians out of Swift, if they change their minds the only financial support Russia will have is what they have on hand and from China and that will be a convoluted slow process...
THAT alone is worth 100 million tons of military supplies... (it means that the Russians cannot replenish themselves with new material and force a crushing blow to the Russian economy)
I believe Russia will view that as a direct financial attack, and retaliate.... Probably cyber at first, and then munitions if the free world successfully handles the cyber...
It's going to escalate even more before it is over...
The three countries that voted against using SWIFT were Germany, Hungry, and Italy. All changed their minds.
Very good news... That will put a crimp on the Russian style for sure... when the Ruble starts turning to crap...
It's already crap..was not worth the paper it was printed on when I was there...Had to take US dollars...
I know, 1,000 Ru is worth 12.00 dollars right now, it will be worth even less after this...
Even better!!
Maybe not as much as we think. Putin has prepared for this for some time now-- gotten rid of some large foreign curency holds, bought lots more gold, etc.
I don't think [deleted]
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The SWIFT sanctions don't apply to energy sales. Oil money will continue to flow.
But it will effect the value of the Ruble, Oil is traded in Dollars not Rubles... which will make Russian oil VERY VERY expensive...
If Biden really wanted to bury Russian oil, now would be the time to up US production a tad, that would take away any real world profit from Russian oil...
I mean if he really wanted to hurt them...
If?
WTF-- why would you think he wouldn't want to hurt them?
P.S: We are still a free enterprise economy--- I'm not a Socialist, so I don't think the government should determine what private companies do.
And in any event, the government doesn't control the policies of private enterprises.
If that the case then, why and how did American oil production fall so rapidly to pre Trump levels once Biden took office? did it have anything to do with a certain executive order rescinding governmental oil leases that control the number of operating oil wells?
In a free enterprise economy re-establishing those leases would expand oil production almost as fast, since the equipment is already in place...
So yeah, turn the oil tap on a little more, not enough to effect the high oil prices he wants to keep high, just enough to put enough extra oil on the market to make US oil cheaper than anyone else's... Especially Russian oil....
If he really wanted to hurt the Russians economically that is...
No.
There was also that little thing called the Covid pandemic and the shutdown of the country. Consumption was very low at the time and oil prices were dropped to below levels where it was financially feasible to continue to pump oil. So a lot of wells were just shut down.
I would expect that with oil prices surging like they are currently that a lot of these wells have been re-activated and the production volumns will continue to climb. But I do wish that Biden would stop with his hard-core "green" shit and go back to some of the options that were available under Trump. We do need to produce sufficient to keep Europe going and shut down the Russian production. China will continue to buy Russian oil but there is only so much that China will need and they will not make up for the loss that Russia could see. This would hurt Russa.
Whatever the cause, this is what we need to do, make his oil reserves worthless on the open market... And yes we do have that capability...
Actually Russia has already been doing a lot of cyber attacks against the Ukraine. (I don't remember the exact day it started but it was a few days ago.
Anticipating that I bought more Alta Vista stock. symbol PANW-- click of 5D to see recent change in stock price)
The news reports are showing a "vacuum bomb" launcher that the Russians are bringing into Ukraine. Vacuum bombs suck all the oxygen out of the air. The Russians won't care if it is combatants or non-combatant civilians affected by this extreme brutality.
We are going to see and hear about some very ugly events over the next few days as the Russians move to take over Kyiv.
sad, but not surprising.
(I still can't figure out why trump considered Putin such a close friend-- while snubbing our NATO allies.
I think it's because Trump has an ideological affinity with Putin and wishes to emulate him. Trump admires all the autocratic and authoritarian leaders.
IF its the type im thinking , it can be very devastating.
Basically , the one im thinking of , one releases a flammable mist of some kind and saturates the air surrounding the target in the right concentration of fuel to air , and has some sort of ignition source which could be just about anything .
Once the fuel air mixture combusts , it sucks all the air in and has a very devastating ground burst effect sort of like a massive explosion like an air burst bomb destroying everything inside the fuel /air mixture cloud .
thing is it can be done with a crop dusting plane .
think about living inside of a match head when its struck .
I believe you are describing the weapon I mentioned. It is most certainly devastating.
If the Russians use it on the civilian population it would be a crime against humanity. Putin is already guilty of war crimes as far as I'm concerned.
The bomb is called the MOAB GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) , nicknamed the M other O f A ll B ombs... Developed by the US Airforce in the late '60s-early '70's for use in Vietnam...
We first used it in in combat in Afghanistan. The Russians also have these and their version is nicknamed the FOAB for Father Of All Bombs...
Of course the Russians claim it's more powerful that ours....
It kills by massive overpressure, (like most bombs) but the radius of overpressure is measured in kilometers rather than meters, and if perchance the bomb doesn't actually detonate, it starts the largest hottest fire you can imagine...
The Russians have provided thermobaric weapons to the separatists in the Donbas region and along the Ukrainian border have massed artillery that is capable of firing thermobaric artillery shells... the Ukrainians themselves are not shy in the thermobaric game either... They have developed their own such weapons...
UKRAINIAN ARMY GETS A BATCH OF NEW THERMOBARIC ‘ROCKET FLAMETHROWERS’
Says they are capable of burning out any tank in existance... Or killing everyone in a bunker, or building all at once...
My information is the Russians already have... In Artillery form...
I think this was the wake up call the Germans needed. Since WW2 they have been adverse, in every possible way, to waging a war outside their borders (and rightfully so), But this has shown that American forces may not arrive on time (if at all) and Europe needs to be able to defend itself. The fact is Germany is the de facto leader of the EU, they are the primary industrial and economic power in the EU, and now the EU needs them to become the primary military power as well.
IMO, for the overall security of Europe, the Germans need to take up arms again.
I know that may not be a popular opinion among our European friends, but what choice is there?
Are you sure of that?
Who else can or will? The EU is centered around Germany, whether they like it or not. Who else in Europe will assume that role? IMO the reason European security has struggled is because the Germans have refused to be a part of it.
You forgot a few things. Germany couldn't have nuclear weapons. Do you remember the famous old German War College ( the Prussian Military Academy)? That was located in the German city of Danzig, which is now the Polish city of Gdańsk.
We have had US troops stationed there since the end of WWII.
That's a lot for the current generation of Germans to forget. I don't see it.
Did you even read my comment plus the last 30 yeard of european history?
I read it. The last 30 years have made Germany the economic powerhouse of the EU, but that does not mean Germany would feel the need to take a military leadership role. Having the US protect them and framing their Constitution as a pacifist state has paid dividends. They have very little of their budget set aside for defense and enjoyed tremendous prosperity under this system. Why would they want to change it?
Dude, you repeated my comment...
That's what happens when you get it right!
most of those WWII relics are dead. there's more nazis in the US than germany now.
FYI - based upon your inaccurate claims in meta, it may not be wise to push your luck here.
Germany has just said it will spend $100 billion euros to update its military and will contribute over 2% of its GDP in the future to strengthen its military.
Okay then.
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For the Same reason that the Japanese decided that they SHOUD take a more active role in their own defense... It eventually get old having to rely on someone to fight your battles for you... And being one of the bedrock nations of NATO, I don't see any real danger from them becoming armed to their potential... If they don't want the Nuclear gun belt, no problem, Japan didn't either...
keeping politics out of it, I would have to Agree with Thrawn here...(biting my toung)
Europe would benefit from a stronger Germany... and it would be good to see Germany coming around to it's obligations on the world stage other than making money for themselves and life miserable for everyone else......
I wonder how any of this will actually get to those defending Kiev. I assume that Russia is cordoning off Kiev and the eastern half of Ukraine and getting the supplies necessary to feed what could be millions of civilians through a siege won't be easy.
They haven't fully surrounded the city.... Yet... They were hoping and have planned for a surgical strike, take the government buildings and establish their own government... That's gone now and I don't think they have a plan for a long drawn out fight...
hey were hoping and have planned for a surgical strike, take the government buildings and establish their own government...
If I were running the Russian invasion, surrounding and isolating Kiev has to be Plan B. There's so many people there that the resource drain has to be just immense. Using the newly arrived Belarusans as a screen to divide Eastern Ukraine from the west would make sense to me. The only thing I'd be doing in Western Ukraine is bombing airfields and logistical targets while concentrating forces around Kiev and Kharkov and just battering them. A successful envelopment of armies defending those cities would be very bad news.
The other thing I can't believe is that the Russians haven't taken out all the Ukrainians air fields yet. With air superiority and their bomber capabilities, it would seem relatively easy to make Ukrainian airfields inoperable. I wonder if some neighboring countries aren't allowing sorties to be flown from them.
Considering I thought Poland might be one of those countries and Poland is refusing to donate Mig29s to Ukraine, that's probably unlikely.
If they go in with bombers and fighter bombers will prompt the free world to provide even stronger defensive weapons than they already have... Potentially offensive weapons as well....
At this point the Russian military cannot afford that type of escalation....
I believe, Putin will elect to go nuclear before he opts for general warfare... A siege works to Ukraine's benefit, not Russia's..
Based on some of the scenes from Kharkiv from the last day or so it looks like it's already going on. The issue remains with getting, weapons ammo and basic foodstuff to those in Kiev, Kharkiv etc..All of the promised support is great, but translating into the field at this point is not a given.
. A siege works to Ukraine's benefit, not Russia's.
I don't think being enveloped is ever in an army or city's best interest, particularly when trying to feed who knows how many people. It's not necessarily fatal, but it's a far from optimal position to be in.