Germany Shocks Alliance, Throws a Wrench in Ukrainian Defense
Germany, a partner with Russia in the controversial NordStream Pipeline, has blocked Ukraine from receiving military support from the Baltic nation of Estonia.
Estonia wanted to send weapons that originally came from Germany to Ukraine, but Germany, which has also refused to share any of its weapons with Ukraine, refused, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Germany partnered with Russia in the NordStream pipeline project to ship natural gas under the Baltic Sea. That was stymied when former President Donald Trump was in office but moved forward after President Joe Biden took office.
This is actually spot on. Germany has a huge responsibility for the situation in Ukraine. It’s time they change their appeasement policy and help Ukraine. https://t.co/OxVhurIJff
— N.Knudsen ???????????????????? (@naknudsen) January 14, 2022
Germany now stands alone as one of the few North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries refusing to assist Ukraine as fears grow that Russia will use the troops surrounding three sides of Ukraine to launch an invasion.
“Blocking arms exports at a time when Ukraine is facing invasion is not a good policy,” said Gustav Gressel of the European Council on Foreign Relations — a pan-European think tank.
“Germany, they have a lot of hesitation to deliver to us,” Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
If Germany is really blocking Estonia from sending weapons to support Ukrainian defenses against yet another Russian invasion, then Germany is clearly helping Russia and screwing Ukraine.
There is no good excuse for this, just eternal shame. Germany cannot be trusted, sadly.
— Jakub Janda 楊雅嚳 (@_JakubJanda) January 22, 2022
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, said Germany has a blood debt it should pay.
“This responsibility should be toward the Ukrainian people, who lost at least 8 million lives during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine,” he said.
But Germany said it is simply doing business as usual by rejecting the call for helping Ukraine.
“Our restrictive position is well known and is rooted in history,” Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign minister, said.
Estonia is not giving up.
“Hopefully, we will get the approval from Germany,” said Kristo Enn Vaga, an adviser to the Estonian defense minister. “Estonia has shown that we want to help Ukraine in practical terms in any way we can.”
Estonia wants to send the D-30, a howitzer that fires a 122-mm shell around 20 kilometers. The Soviet-made howitzers were passed along from the former East Germany to Finland to tiny Estonia.
Germany tells Ukraine:
❌ weapons for now, because they won’t defuse tension.
✅ A complete field hospital by February; “we are therefore at the side of Kyiv.” https://t.co/XUpG57izAW
— Stuart Lau (@StuartKLau) January 22, 2022
Although Germany said it will not send weapons, it did indicate it will help Ukraine by sending a field hospital to treat the casualties that may arise, according to Reuters.
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