Zelensky calls for supplies of German weapons to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he would like Germany to supply its weapons to Ukraine.

He stated this in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, according to Deutsche Welle.

"Germany did not provide us with military assistance, but it could have done so," Zelensky said.

Ukraine is interested in patrol boats, rifles, radio communication systems and armored personnel carriers, he said.

"Habeck has realized this," Zelensky said, referring to a co-chairman of Germany's Green Party, Robert Habeck who, after his visit to Kyiv, spoke positively about possible arms supplies to Ukraine.

"In a situation where it comes to protecting people's lives, it is worth reconsidering Germany's principled 'no' [to arms supplies to conflict zones]," he said.

At the same time, representatives of the ruling CDU/CSU bloc are still against this idea.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine does not have a military solution, which means that "the way of arms supplies, in this case, is the wrong way," said Johann Wadephul, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU bloc in the Bundestag.

Commenting on Habeck's remarks, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Germany remained committed to the principle of banning arms supplies to war-torn regions.

"We adhere to a restrictive and responsible armaments policy and we do not give permission to supply weapons to Ukraine," he said.

op