A Ukrainian serviceman holds a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher at fighting positions outside the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine Feb. 24, 2022.MAKSIM LEVIN/Reuters
Germany has approved the delivery of 400 RPGs from the Netherlands to Ukraine, the defence ministry in Berlin said, confirming a shift in policy after Berlin faced criticism for refusing to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike other Western allies.
“The approval has been confirmed by the chancellery,” a spokesman for the defence ministry said on Saturday. The RPGs come from stocks of the German military.
Germany has a long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to war zones, rooted partly in its bloody 20th-century history and resulting pacifism. Countries aiming to on-pass German weapons exports need to apply for approval in Berlin first.
More to come.