The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Germany buys three US Himars rocket systems to send to Ukraine
GERMANY will buy three American Himars rocket systems and transfer them to Ukraine, the defence minister announced during a visit to the United States.
Boris Pistorius stressed the importance of cooperation between the European Union and the US in sending Kyiv the weapons and supplies it needs to repel Russia, when he spoke to reporters in Washington.
“I can confirm that we will transfer three Himars rocket systems to Ukraine in cooperation with the Americans,” he said yesterday.
“They come from US armed forces’ stocks and will be paid by us.”
Ukraine already possesses 39 Himars systems, which it has used with great success against Russian command posts and ammunition depots.
But there is still no sign of Chancellor Olaf Scholz providing Kyiv with the Taurus, a powerful long-range missile system, as he fears it could escalate tensions between Moscow and Berlin.
In Ukrainian hands the Taurus would be capable of striking targets deep inside Russia, including the Kremlin.
It came as Mr Pistorius warned that Germany could be facing an “arms freeze” as soon as next year due to a lack of funding for the military in the government’s budget.
“That would really not be a good sign for our allies, but also with regard to our own defence capability,” he told broadcaster ZDF.
It is understood Mr Pistorius has been lobbying the German finance ministry to exempt the armed forces from the country’s “debt brake”, which imposes strict limits on government borrowing and spending.