Germany delivers Patriot air defense system to Ukraine while Switzerland maintains neutrality

19.04.2023

Ukraine, which has suffered from Russian air strikes, urgently needs an air defense system. Now, a German “Patriot” system has been delivered to Ukraine. At the same time, Switzerland continues to refuse third countries to transfer Swiss arms to Ukraine. The country’s strict neutrality has aroused dissatisfaction in German political circles.

(Voice of Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) According to the website of the German Federal Government, Germany has delivered a set of Patriot air and missile defense systems to Ukraine, which can intercept enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, and its effective range is about 100 kilometers, the effective shooting height is 30 kilometers.

Previously,U.S.and Germany each agreed to supply a set of “Patriot” systems to Ukraine, therebyMinimize the damage of Russian air strikes to civilian infrastructure. The German news agency quoted a German military source as saying that Ukrainian soldiers have received corresponding training from the US and Germany in a “NATO country” in the form of “joint exercises”.

at present,America’s “Patriot” SystemDelivery has not been completed. also,The Netherlands also promised to provide Ukraine with “patriots”。

Ukraine hit by another Russian drone strike

Just on April 19, the Ukrainian side reported that in the past overnight, the southern port city of Odessa was attacked by a Shahed-136 drone (also often translated as Witness 136). Yuriy Kruk, head of Odessa’s military control department, said in a statement on social media Telegram that although air defense forces shot down most of the incoming drones, some civilian infrastructure was still hit. He revealed that the National Emergency Management Agency and other agencies are working on the scene and taking a series of measures to control the fire. Preliminary information shows that there are no casualties.

The Shahed-136 is a small Iranian-made suicide drone that can carry explosives and fly to a target along a set route. In November last year, reports revealed that Iran had reached an agreement with Russia to allow the latter to assemble and produce. Western intelligence agencies believe that the drone has been widely used in the Russia-Ukraine conflict since then.

The Russian army also has its own drone weapons, but due to Western sanctions, Russia lacks enough spare parts to maintain and replace war-damaged drones.

Switzerland reaffirms principle of neutrality

Germany’s neighbor Switzerland continues toarms supply problemAdhere to strict neutrality.Swiss Confederation President Alain Berset (Alain Berset) reaffirmed when he met with German Chancellor Scholz on April 18Position on the prohibition of the transfer of Swiss weapons to Ukraine by third countries. He said Switzerland’s neutrality act prohibited the Swiss government from providing any military aid to either party to an armed conflict. “No one can ask us to break our own laws.” However, Belset also said that this does not mean that Switzerland is against the law.Russia-Ukraine situationIndifferent, the Swedish side strongly condemned the Russian military’s aggression and provided humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Ukraine. “Everyone is doing what they can. But there are also considerations about what should, must and can be done.” Berset said that the neutrality bill is also being debated in Switzerland. “So, we should abide by the rules and change the rules if necessary.” , which is very important.”

The background of this incident is that Germany previously requested to repurchase the German-made “Leopard 2” main battle tanks in the Swiss inventory to fill the vacancy left after the “Leopard 2” tanks of the German Bundeswehr aided Ukraine. In addition, Germany, Denmark, and Spain also requested to purchase a batch of ammunition in Swiss stocks for export to Ukraine. The Swiss side rejected both.

German Chancellor Scholz said not long ago that “the turning point of the times” is forcing all countries to change their thinking. Michael Roth, chairman of the German Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, is now “disappointed” with Switzerland’s strict neutrality over Ukraine. He said that in the future, Germany must take this position of Switzerland into account when it conducts military cooperation with Switzerland.

However, Scholz also praised Switzerland’s participation in Western economic sanctions against Russia. Belset revealed that 7.5 billion Swiss francs of Russian oligarchs had been seized.

(AFP, Reuters, DPA)

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