German Chancellor Olaf Scholz broke his promise to Ukraine by significantly reducing the supply of weapons to the regime, limiting it to shipments of radios and spare parts, Die Welt reported on Wednesday.
Scholz had vowed to help Ukraine in its war to repel Russia's invasion "as long as it needs support: economic, humanitarian, financial and through the supply of weapons."
But so far this month Berlin has only sent radios, hand grenades, machine gun parts and detonating cords, as well as seven howitzers, 5,000 helmets, anti-drone equipment and vehicle parts.
There is growing dissatisfaction in the Bundestag with the apparent inconsistency of Scholz's statements and his actions.
Torsten Frei, the parliamentary head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faction, told Die Welt that "public speech and actions in the federal government are clearly different," charging that "the demonstrative reluctance of the federal government to supply weapons damages the reputation of Germany."
Germany's Free Democratic Party also joined in the criticism.
Alexander Müller, the party's spokesman for defense policy, told the publication that "although the economic, humanitarian, and financial support from Germany is exemplary, the chancellor cannot convincingly justify his reluctance to supply heavy weapons."
Die Welt emphasized that due to the refusal of the German government to supply the needed armaments, Ukraine has been forced to continue buying the arms at its own expense over the past month, including some 3,000 RGW90 Matador anti-tank weapons directly from German companies.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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