Minister Reznikov told
the Financial Times exclusively that Berlin has recently denied Ukraine’s
purchase of anti-drone guns and anti-sniper devices through the NATO Support
and Procurement Agency (NSPA). However,
Germany had since backtracked on the first item after determining it to be
non-lethal.
“They are still
building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and at the same time blocking our defensive
weapons. It is very unfair,” Reznikov said, referring to the Russian gas
pipeline that runs through the Baltic Sea to Germany and bypasses existing
supply routes through Ukraine.
Given the German blockage of procurement of lethal equipment — a position taken by Angela Merkel’s former government — Reznikov said Ukraine would seek to acquire arms through bilateral deals with allies, including the U.S., U.K., Lithuania and France.
The position of the
new German government, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, is not yet clear. The
German economy ministry, responsible for approving or vetoing weapons exports,
declined to comment on Sunday, as did the German chancellery.
In May, Robert Habeck,
co-leader of the Greens and now an economy minister in the ruling coalition
said Ukraine’s requests for defensive weapons would be “hard to deny”.