Germany warns Ukraine against lashing out over arms export ban

Ukraine has repeatedly criticized Germany for denying it weapons, including modern air defense systems and warships, as well as for blocking lethal arms exports by NATO allies.

Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train close to Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo | AP) 

BERLIN: The head of the German parliament's defense committee warned Ukraine on Saturday that it should stop throwing around criticism about what it sees as Berlin's unfair refusal to supply it with weapons.

"I sympathize with Ukrainian representatives in Kiev for being on edge in the face of the Russian army threat. But I have no sympathy for constant verbal gaffes of some Ukrainian voices," Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the dpa news agency.

Ukraine has repeatedly criticized Germany for denying it weapons, including modern air defense systems and warships, as well as for blocking lethal arms exports by NATO allies. Germany insists that it does not allow weapon exports to war zones.

Strack-Zimmermann said Ukraine should not "confuse friends and foes" in the heat of the moment and urged Kiev to exercise "a little bit of restraint." She estimated that Germany had provided Ukraine with almost 2 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in non-lethal aid since 2014.