04:31Germany: 'If we stop delivering weapons, end of Ukraine would be tomorrow' - DefMin Pistorius as independent MP accuses Zelensky of escalation
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius claimed that an end to deliveries of weapons to Kiev would mean 'the end of Ukraine', during a session of the Bundestag in Berlin on Wednesday.
"If we stop delivering weapons, if the weapons supply ends today, the end of Ukraine would be tomorrow. You may want and accept that. We do not," he said.
"We recently just signed a military aid package valued at 2.7 billion euros of artillery, air defence systems to armoured vehicles and pioneer capabilities," he added.
However, independent MP Robert Farle, who quit the the Alternative for Germany party last year, claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had plans for both Crimea and NATO far in advance of the latest conflict with Russia.
"The idea is to drive the Russians out of Crimea and to station the US, along with NATO, on the ground," he alleged. "These attack plans were officially published on the government site of Ukraine one year before the Russian attack response on February 24, 2022."
"Zelensky escalates from week to week with his attacks on Russia and Russian land. This has in my opinion nothing to do with the right of self-defence, which of course Ukraine is entitled to when it is attacked," he continued.
Russia has repeatedly accused Western nations of escalating the conflict, saying that weapons deliveries only prolong the fighting and won’t change the outcome. It also claimed NATO expansionism led to the current conflict - which Kiev and its allies deny.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on Monday that 'a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered the territory of the Grayvoronsky district'.
The 'Freedom of Russia Legion' took responsibility for the attack, claiming that it had launched an assault together with the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' on the village of Grayvoron, as reported on their Telegram channel.
Advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kiev was 'not directly related' to the events on the border.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.
04:31German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius claimed that an end to deliveries of weapons to Kiev would mean 'the end of Ukraine', during a session of the Bundestag in Berlin on Wednesday.
"If we stop delivering weapons, if the weapons supply ends today, the end of Ukraine would be tomorrow. You may want and accept that. We do not," he said.
"We recently just signed a military aid package valued at 2.7 billion euros of artillery, air defence systems to armoured vehicles and pioneer capabilities," he added.
However, independent MP Robert Farle, who quit the the Alternative for Germany party last year, claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had plans for both Crimea and NATO far in advance of the latest conflict with Russia.
"The idea is to drive the Russians out of Crimea and to station the US, along with NATO, on the ground," he alleged. "These attack plans were officially published on the government site of Ukraine one year before the Russian attack response on February 24, 2022."
"Zelensky escalates from week to week with his attacks on Russia and Russian land. This has in my opinion nothing to do with the right of self-defence, which of course Ukraine is entitled to when it is attacked," he continued.
Russia has repeatedly accused Western nations of escalating the conflict, saying that weapons deliveries only prolong the fighting and won’t change the outcome. It also claimed NATO expansionism led to the current conflict - which Kiev and its allies deny.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported on Monday that 'a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entered the territory of the Grayvoronsky district'.
The 'Freedom of Russia Legion' took responsibility for the attack, claiming that it had launched an assault together with the 'Russian Volunteer Corps' on the village of Grayvoron, as reported on their Telegram channel.
Advisor to the Head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kiev was 'not directly related' to the events on the border.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.