Germany is reluctant to send weapons to Ukraine because of their “guilty feeling” over Nazi atrocities, according to a Ukrainian MP. Speaking to Newsnight Vadym Halaichuk said that Berlin was reluctant to supply arms to any “third country” as it was part of their “political culture.”
Mr Halaichuk, a member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, said that this was a “no go” for Ukrainians as they had “suffered the most” during the conflict.
He said: “We have discussed this issue with our German colleagues, parliamentarians, the Bundestag members.
“One of the major explanations, or reluctances if you wish, is the political culture.
“The history Germany has with Russia.
“Germany has not been active in supplying arms to any third country, especially any country that can possibly be involved in any sort of war activities with Russia.
“They claim that it dates back to the World War Two history where Germans have this guilty feeling about all the atrocities that Nazi troops committed in Russia, they claim.
“However, that is a no go for us in Ukraine as if you look at the history, at historical facts statistics, it is Ukraine that suffered the most in World War Two.
“It is Ukrainian territory that has been occupied and Ukrainian population that had the most to suffer from that occupation.
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According to the Ukrainian government, around eight million people in the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic lost their lives in the Second World War.
Russian historian Vadim Erlikman estimated the figure to be 6.8 million – 16.3 percent of the population.
In contrast, Poland lost 17 percent of its population, while in Belarus it was 25 percent.
