Patriot and Marder support news from Germany to Ukraine. Last Minute GERMANY, Berlin, France, Russia, Greece headlines and events

BERLIN –

Following the United States, Germany also decided to send the Patriot air defense system and an additional Marder tank to Ukraine. The White House announced the decision following a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden.

In a statement, “President Biden and Prime Minister Scholz expressed their joint determination to continue providing the necessary financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine for as long as needed. To this end, the United States has supplied Ukraine with Bradley infantry. “Both countries are aimed at training Ukrainian forces to work with related systems,” the statement said.

Confirming the White House statement, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestrait said the weapons in question would be shipped soon, without giving an exact date.

It was also announced that Biden and Scholz expressed satisfaction with the military support provided to Ukraine by other allies. Finally, French President Macron said that France would provide Ukraine with light tanks and continue to support air defense.

From sources in the German Foreign and Defense Ministries, it became known that the United States plans to send 50 Bradley armored fighting vehicles, and Germany will send 40 Marder armored fighting vehicles and 1 Patriot air defense system.

German marders are expected to play an important role in a possible Ukrainian counter-offensive in the first quarter of this year. The Marder is a lightly armored vehicle in service with the German army since the 1970s, its main feature is its high speed, which includes a 20mm automatic cannon, two 7.62mm machine guns and a Milan anti-tank system.

Initial comments in Berlin interpreted the decision as a “surprise” while emphasizing that Prime Minister Scholz had no choice but to change his position on the issue following France’s decision to send tanks yesterday.

Scholz’s insistence on sending heavy weapons, despite the persistent demands of Ukraine and the pressure of allied countries, especially the United States, caused heated discussions in the international arena and in domestic public opinion.

Just two weeks ago, Scholz said that Berlin had no plans to send tanks to Ukraine to prevent an escalation of tensions with Russia and would not act unilaterally in this regard. He justified this by the fact that since the Russian attack, not a single ally has supplied Ukraine with offensive weapons of the same power.

Germany is among the countries that have provided the most financial, humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Since the beginning of the war, the German government has approved the supply of weapons to Ukraine for a total of 800 million euros. Weapons sent include heavy weapons such as howitzers, Iris-T air-to-air missiles, Gepard-type anti-aircraft and armored rescue vehicles, as well as machine guns, grenades, mines and more than 20 million ammunition of various calibers. .

In addition, Germany announced that 40 Soviet-type BMP1 tanks, which will be purchased from Greece, will also be transferred to Ukraine, and in return it will transfer 40 Marder tanks to Greece.

Baerbock Truce “So-Called” Proposal

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock called Russia’s announcement of a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine a “so-called” ceasefire, saying it would bring neither freedom nor security to a frightened people.

In a post on his Twitter account, the foreign minister said: “If Putin wanted peace, he would have brought his soldiers home and the war would have ended. However, he seems to want to continue the war after a short break. “This ceasefire will bring neither freedom nor security to people who live every day in fear under Russian occupation. That is why we will continue to support Ukrainians so that they can again live in peace and self-determination,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of Defense to impose a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine from 12:00 tomorrow, with Ukraine rejecting the ceasefire proposal, asking Russia to withdraw from the occupied territories.

broadcast by Voice of America Support for Patriot and Marder from Germany to Ukraine in the news houra-ber.com editors have no editorial intervention. Patriot and Marder Support news from Germany to Ukraine are automatically posted on our website as they come from the VOA website. in this district Support for Patriot and Marder from Germany to Ukraine The legal addressee of the news is the websites and agencies that published the news.