Germany calls for sending heavy weapons to Ukraine

BERLIN

Germany on Monday said European countries should send heavy weapons and more military equipment to Ukraine, amid fears that Russia will soon intensify attacks in the eastern Donbas region.

“Ukraine needs further military support to defend itself,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters, ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

“It is clear that Ukraine needs further military equipment, especially heavy weapons. Now we need creativity and pragmatism, it’s not the time for excuses,” she stressed, adding that Germany will continue its efforts in close coordination with the allies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on Western nations to increase their arms supplies to the country, with heavy weapons, air defense systems, tanks, and planes.

EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned earlier on Monday that the war is likely to intensify in the coming days.

“The Russian troops are massing on the east to launch an attack in the Donbas. The Ukrainians are very much aware of that. So, I’m afraid in the next days, the war will increase on the Donbas” he told reporters in Luxembourg.