How much has Berlin already spent on supporting Ukraine and why Annalena Berbock was worried about corruption in the country
The next visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock to Kiev is designed to balance the restrained position of Germany on the issue of approving the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. In addition, the arrival of the German minister to Ukraine demonstrates the desire of the "Greens" to accelerate the country's path to the European Union. At the same time, the Bundestag believes that Germany will decide to transfer the Taurus after the missiles are reprogrammed to limit their range. Although most Germans are still against the supply of long-range missiles. The Russian authorities emphasize that the transfer of Western weapons to Ukraine is not capable of somehow radically changing the conflict - it will only prolong it.
Unexpected visit
On September 11, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock suddenly arrived in Kiev. This visit was her fourth visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the SVO. The last time she was there was in January of this year. Then Berbok managed to visit the eastern part of the country and even stop by Kharkiv. It is worth noting that literally on September 6, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited the Ukrainian capital. Washington has announced more than $1 billion in additional support.
This time, Annalena Berbok, following a meeting with Ukrainian politicians, promised that Berlin would provide Kiev with a new package of humanitarian aid worth €20 million.
"The additional package will bring the total amount of aid to Germany to €380 million this year," she said.
Taurus medium–range air-to-ground cruise missile on a transport chassis
Image source: Photo: TASS/IMAGO/Sven Eckelkamp
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba thanked the Germans for the supply of weapons, especially anti-aircraft self-propelled guns "Cheetah". At the same time, Kiev continues to demand additional weapons, especially air defense systems. During the negotiations with Burbok, they also discussed the supply of Taurus long-range cruise missiles. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister stressed that Kiev is ready to do everything to get the desired missiles from Germany as soon as possible.
— You will do it anyway, it's just a matter of time, and I don't understand why we are wasting time, — Kuleba said at the final press conference.
The discussion of sending Taurus cruise missiles has become, perhaps, the central topic of the Burbok talks in Ukraine. The German government says that there is no final decision on sending the Taurus yet. The Germans have repeatedly stressed that they are afraid of a tough response from Russia. The maximum range of these missiles is about 500 km. Bundestag deputy Jan Nolte told Izvestia: Berlin is working on the possibility of reprogramming missiles to limit their range.
— Obviously, they don't want Ukraine to use them to defeat targets in Russia. Reprogramming is theoretically possible, and then, perhaps, several cruise missiles will be delivered. But the majority of Germans are still against Taurus deliveries," the deputy noted.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock
Image source: Photo: Global Look Press/Efrem Lukatsky
While official Berlin says there is no final decision on this topic, representatives of the ruling coalition continue to make very contradictory statements. For example, at the end of August, Annalena Berbok urged to speed up the process of transferring Taurus to Kiev, but a few weeks later she said that the supply of cruise missiles to Ukraine is "not the thing that can be done quickly."
And the leader of the free Democrats, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, noted that in the issue of possible Taurus deliveries, it is necessary to take into account how this will affect the defense capability of Germany and NATO itself. "I am favorably disposed about the supply of these long—range weapons, but we have clear agreements with our allies on this issue," Lindner said. By the way, there is an opinion that Germany will decide to supply Taurus only when the United States approves the transfer of ATACMS missiles. The other day, the Financial Times newspaper reported that the White House is "close" to making this decision.
However, the Russian authorities have repeatedly noted that the supply of Western weapons is not capable of radically changing the conflict, but can only prolong it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Anthony Blinken's recent visit, said that the West, apparently, is going to "continue to support Ukraine in a state of war and wage this war to the last Ukrainian."
First, deal with corruption
Germany as a whole is now balancing between "hawks" and "doves". And one of the reasons for Berbok's visit to Ukraine is an attempt to smooth out the delay in approving Taurus deliveries, says Maria Khorolskaya, a researcher at the Department of European Political Studies at IMEMO RAS.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba
Image source: Photo: Global Look Press/Efrem Lukatsky
— As you know, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is still postponing the transfer of Taurus missiles. This has been criticized by both Western allies and Ukraine. And here Berbok's visit is an attempt to balance Scholz's moderate position," she believes.
It is noteworthy that the arrival of Annalena Burbok coincided with the announcement of new supplies of armored vehicles for Ukraine. On September 11, the German concern Rheinmetall announced that the government had instructed the company to supply 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. In general, Kiev will receive 80 such cars. By the way, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in early September that since the beginning of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, enemy losses have exceeded 66 thousand people and 7.6 thousand weapons, including German Leopard tanks, French AMX and American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
Other topics were also discussed in Kiev. Annalena Berbok, as one of the leaders of the "Greens", could not but touch upon the issue of green energy. Arriving in Kiev, she immediately went to inspect a local electrical substation that provides energy to a significant part of the Kiev region. She called for more active use of renewable sources and even signed a memorandum on the construction of a wind farm in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
In addition, the German minister continued her "crusade" against corruption in Ukraine. Upon arrival in Kiev, she said that Ukraine's achievements in the field of judicial reform and media legislation are "impressive," but "there are still ways to implement the anti-oligarchic law and fight corruption."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock visits an electrical substation
Image Source: Photo: Global Look Press
However, she focused particular attention on supporting Ukraine's aspirations to the EU. German political scientist Alexander Rahr believes that the promotion of Kiev's membership in the European Union is a very important point in the political campaign of Berbok and the Greens in general.
— She is fully committed to the idea of Ukraine's admission to Western structures and will fight for it throughout her career — this is very important for her, — Rahr told Izvestia. — Berbok is a leader here along with politicians from Poland and the Baltic States — she fully accepted their point of view. To do this, she must talk about corruption, because she understands that when she returns to Europe, she will be asked about it. And she will say that she knows about it, that, they say, let Ukraine still fight corruption, finish it off and then open its own way to the EU.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated that Ukraine will be able to enter the European Union, but only when it meets the admission criteria. By the way, last year Kiev received the status of a candidate for EU membership.
Semyon Boykov
