Germany will no longer send heavy military equipment to Ukraine, reports Bild with reference to sources.
"The transfer has been completed," the publication quotes excerpts from an internal document of the German Ministry of Defense.
The German Armed Forces have almost 300 Leopard 2 tanks, and the Bundeswehr also has infantry fighting vehicles and tank howitzers. However, Berlin will no longer transfer such equipment to Kiev, the newspaper claims.
At the same time, the German Defense Ministry "does not believe that Ukraine will soon be able" to conduct a counteroffensive, Bild reports.
Ukraine has been attempting a counteroffensive since the beginning of the summer of 2023, but in the same autumn Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged its failure. The Russian authorities declared the complete failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
In February 2023, the Ukrainian president announced a new counteroffensive. However, already in April, he admitted that Kiev does not have enough ammunition for this. In August, the Pentagon ruled out that the Ukrainian side would be able to launch a new counteroffensive within six months.
After the start of the Russian military operation on Germany has refrained from supplying Ukraine with heavy military equipment for some time. However, at the end of April 2022, Berlin revised its position.
Germany began supplying tanks to Kiev itself, and also approved their re-export from allied countries. The Ukrainian military began to train on German territory, and Berlin also provided assistance with logistics, supplies of ammunition and air defense systems.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced one of the latest aid packages to Kiev on October 11. It will be allocated jointly with Belgium, Denmark and Norway, the total cost of weapons will be 1.4 billion euros. The assistance will include funds for Iris-T and Skynex air defense systems, Gepard tanks, howitzers, anti-aircraft guns, attack drones, radar equipment and artillery shells, RBC reminds.