Ukraine in talks with Germany to unblock arms purchases from NATO – Kuleba

Ukraine is in talks with Germany to unblock the purchase by Kyiv of weapons systems…through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency.

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He recalled that Ukraine had previously gained access to NATO’s defense procurement system, which means the Ukrainian Defense Ministry can buy weapons or military equipment directly from the Allies.

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“We can solve it in the negotiations and yesterday we discussed this issue with Ms. Annalena Baerbock and agreed that diplomatic negotiations will be enough to find a solution to any situation,” the minister said.

Kuleba also added that his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, has a clear understanding of the threat from Russia and the risks of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline….

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on December 13 that last month, Berlin through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency vetoed Ukraine’s purchase of weapons systems….

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“Fear still wins in some capitals”: Zelensky rebukes Germany for blocking arms supplies

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rebuked Germany for blocking the supply of weapons to Ukraine while stating that such actions “are a manifestation of fear” as Zelensky said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica published at the presidential press service.

“For example, Germany has recently prevented us from receiving anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems, which are exclusively defense tools, from NATO. Are we not entitled to them in the eighth year of the war? Obviously, we are…,” Zelensky said.

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[T]he German government led by Angela Merkel used the NATO consensus mechanism to block arms supplies to Ukraine. Therefore, the dispatch to Ukraine within NATO of 90 large-caliber Barrett M82 sniper rifles from the USA and 20 EDM4S-UA anti-drone systems from Lithuania was canceled.