Germany calls for more military support for Ukraine

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday urged more military support for Ukraine as she arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leadership.

“To protect Ukraine from the Russian hail of missiles and drones, it urgently needs more air defense. That's why, together with (German) Defense Minister (Boris) Pistorius, I launched a global initiative for more air defense,” Baerbock said in a statement.

“Almost €1 billion ($1.09 billion) have now been raised to provide additional support for the Ukrainian air defense forces, and we are working intensively to ensure that there is even more,” she added.

Baerbock stressed that everything should be done to ensure that “Ukraine can survive, so that Ukrainians can continue to live self-determined lives in the future.”

The German minister said last week that the Ukrainian Armed Forces need more long-range weapons to be able to hit targets deep behind the frontline as Russia makes gains on the battlefield.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Strasbourg, Baerbock called the military situation in north-east Ukraine as “highly dramatic” amid reports that Russian forces are making significant advances of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in one place.

Germany is now Ukraine's second-biggest arms supplier, after the Americans, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to provide Ukraine Taurus missiles, saying that doing so would drag Germany deeper into the war.