Wadephul Urges Ukraine to Buy More German Weapons

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Tuesday that Ukraine should buy more weapons from German companies, arguing that Germany, as Kyiv’s biggest European donor, had the right to expect its defense industry to benefit from Ukrainian procurement.

Wadephul told Bild that he had assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of continued support in the fight against Russia, but also had to justify the spending to German taxpayers. He said Germany was currently not entirely satisfied with the level of orders received by its defense companies.

His remarks came days after Germany accused Russia of being behind an attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport in August that authorities said narrowly missed causing a major disaster. In response, Berlin ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural center in Berlin.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the accusations and described them as, “by and large, the start of a real war”. Wadephul dismissed the remark, saying Germany had no choice but to respond to the incident.

Wadephul also said Ukrainian men of military age living in Germany should return home and that Berlin could help the Ukrainian government identify them through registration, social-security and residence records.

(Reuters, max)