Ukrainian soldiers patrol on the frontline in Zolote.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Germany is blocking military support for Ukraine.
Permits to export weapons of German origin will not be provided by Berlin.
Germany has been criticized in Washington for its handling of the Ukraine crisis.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Germany is preventing other NATO members from providing military support to Ukraine.
"Germany has a lot of hesitation to deliver to us," the defense minister of Ukraine told The Journal.
A German government spokesman told the outlet that the exportation of weaponry is a result of a long-standing policy.
"The principle governing arms exports is the same, whether they come directly from Germany or from third countries, and no permission has been issued at this stage," the spokesman said.
Germany is lobbying to change course so that it can send howitzers to Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Soviet weapons were left in Germany after reunification.
Germany has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine because of tensions with Russia.
Over the past year, the US has given more than $400 million in security assistance to Ukraine. The US has provided Ukraine with a variety of equipment, including Javelin anti-tank missiles.
Germany's history of atrocities in the region during World War II made the government oppose sending weapons to Ukraine.
Germany's foreign minister said that the country's restrictive position is well known.
Germany has been urged by Ukraine to change its policy.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, told the news agency that the Ukrainian people lost at least 8 million lives during the Nazi occupation.
Europe is concerned about the prospect of an invasion by Russia after it gathered tens of thousands of troops near the borders of Ukraine. The White House said this week that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent, and the Biden administration warned Moscow that it would face severe economic consequences.
The US and NATO have dismissed Russia's demands for security guarantees as non-starters. Russia wants Georgia and Ukraine to be barred from ever joining NATO. The alliance does not want to negotiate its open door policy.
Despite not being a member of NATO, Ukraine maintains a strong partnership with the alliance. Putin blamed NATO for the dynamic between Moscow and the West.
The Secretary of State said in Berlin that it was absurd to point the finger at NATO because of Putin's history of aggression in the region. Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine. The war in the eastern Donbass region has been supported by the Kremlin.
Efforts to prevent a conflict have not resulted in any major breakthrough so far. The Foreign Minister of Russia and the Secretary of State of the United States agreed that it was important to continue talks.
Germany has been criticized in Washington as the US searches for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. Republican lawmakers accused Berlin of abandoning Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. The center of this discussion is the Nord Stream 2 gas line.
The Ukrainian government as well as congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are against the completion of the project. The undersea line goes through Ukraine. Opponents of the project contend that the project would give Russia leverage over Europe and that it would deprive Ukraine of billions in gas transit fees.
The Biden administration pushed back against sanctions on the line in order to stay on Berlin's good side, but also urged Germany to stop the project if Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Chancellor of Germany has signaled that he is open to this, but he hasn't said that the pipeline would be scrapped in response to a military incursion. There will be a high price to pay and everything will have to be discussed if there is a military intervention in Ukraine.
The original article is on Business Insider.
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