Germany hasn’t sent Ukraine the weapons it promised

One of the more dramatic geo-political consequences of Russia’s invasion ofUkraine was the German decision to end its policy of never sending weapons to conflict zones. This was in addition to a pledge to spend more on the nation’s defence by spending up to the Nato target of 2 per cent of GDP for the first time.

 Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to send Ukraine 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft defence “as soon as possible”. That was three weeks ago and yet nothing has arrived.

With the Russian artillery bombardment of cities like Mariupol, unrelenting speed of supplies to the Ukrainian military is clearly of the essence. Yet bureaucracy is said to be holding up Germany’s contribution. This is also affecting shipments from other countries that have bought German armaments but need permission to pass them on to a third party. Each case has to be decided individually.