English Section

Polish PM says he will ask German chancellor to send more arms to Ukraine

21.04.2022 15:30
Poland’s prime minister on Thursday said he would ask the German chancellor to provide Ukraine with more military equipment amid Russia's invasion. 
Polands Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.PAP/Maciej Kulczyński

Mateusz Morawiecki called Germany’s stance on military aid to Ukraine “highly ambiguous,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.

He told a news conference: “Poland is providing Ukraine with a huge amount of defensive armaments so that Ukrainians stand a chance of defending themselves against Russia’s brutal, criminal aggression.”

He added: “Germany’s stance on this issue is highly ambiguous.”

Morawiecki pledged he would “try and contact German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as soon as possible to persuade him to change this position.”

‘A turning point in world history’

According to the Polish prime minister, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marks “a turning point in the history of Europe and the world,” the PAP news agency reported.

Morawiecki told reporters on Thursday that, "to restore security," Europe needed to “renounce Russian oil, gas and coal, a move Poland is making in the most radical way.”

“At the same time, we have to emphasise the importance of sending arms to Ukraine, because to defend itself, it must have the means to do it,” he said. 

“And so it is important that we supply Ukraine with ammunition and heavy weaponry,” he added.

Pressure on Berlin 

Morawiecki’s words came after Scholz on Tuesday said that the German army, the Bundswehr, had little left to offer Ukraine from its stockpiles, but added that his government would fund supplies from German arms manufacturers, according to the PAP news agency.

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz. Photo: PAP/DPA/Michael Kappeler

“We have asked the German arms industry to tell us which material it can supply in the near future," Scholz said, mentioning anti-tank weapons, air defence equipment and ammunition as possible products that can be delivered to Ukraine.

As pressure on Berlin mounted, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht on Thursday announced Germany was negotiating with European Union and NATO partners that  could send Soviet-era heavy weapons to Ukraine, PAP reported. 

Thursday is day 57 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, dw.com