BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany will officially approve the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, a senior lawmaker from one of the ruling coalition parties said on Tuesday.
Johannes Vogel, of the liberal Free Democrats, confirmed a report in daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht is set to offer the weapons at Tuesday’s meeting with allies at the United States’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has faced criticism at home and abroad for his government’s failure to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine, has pledged the delivery of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons from German military stocks, which he described however as “defensive weapons.”
(Writing by Maria Sheahan, Editing by Miranda Murray and Paul Carrel)
