German soldiers with a tank mounted with self-propelled artillery Panzerhaubitze 2000 – Photo: AFP

This new information in the German media casts doubt on the previous statement of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he had agreed to the purchase of arms with Kiev.

Earlier, Chancellor Scholz said that he had asked arms contractors to come up with a list of weapons systems that they could quickly supply to Ukraine to strengthen defense efforts.

“Ukraine has now made a selection from this list and we will provide them with the necessary funds to make the purchase,” Mr Scholz said.

According to the information on the sheet Bild Germany on April 21, the offer in mid-March still includes some heavy weapons that Kiev considers necessary to counter Russia’s special military operation in the east of the country.

Including the Boxer armored transport vehicle, the Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 self-propelled howitzer and the Leopard 2 battle tank manufactured by the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann defense company based in Munich.

But by the end of March, the list submitted to the Ukrainian government had shrunk from 48 to 24 pages and included only three of the 15 weapons Kiev requested. The next two requests of the Ukrainian government on April 9 and April 16 were ignored by the German side, according to the German newspaper.

This information risks adding to the tension in the diplomatic row. Prime Minister Scholz’s government insists it is doing everything in its power to help Ukraine counter the Russian military campaign.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian diplomats accused Berlin of stopping arms shipments for fear of provoking Russia to escalate the war.

The list of weapons that Germany said it would buy and send to Ukraine includes a number of modern machines such as radar systems, remote-controlled weapons stations that can be mounted on Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles. .

Sheet Bloomberg Germany will train Ukrainian troops and equip ammunition for the PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery system the Netherlands is sending to Ukraine, citing unnamed government sources.

However, in his latest press conference, Mr. Scholz did not mention the agreement with the Netherlands.