Germany votes in favour of accelerating supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine amid war

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to intensify, with western nations firmly standing against Russia, the German Parliament has voted in favour of increasing the supply of heavy weapons to war-hit Ukraine. According to a report published by bild.de, the union and the ruling traffic light coalition parties voted in favour of providing military aid to Ukraine at the Bundestag on April 28.  The proposal was accepted by a large majority of 586 lawmakers. The deputies called on the federal government to "continue and, where possible, accelerate the delivery of necessary equipment to Ukraine and also expand the delivery to include heavy weapons and complex systems, for example as part of the ring exchange." The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left part opposed the initiative, arguing that this step could directly take Germany into war. As many as 100 MPs voted no, and seven abstained.

Notably, the federal government also received explicit backing for all the steps taken so far, including sanctions against Russia, help with war crimes investigations, and the restructuring of Germany's infrastructure to no longer be dependent on Russian energy supplies. Bild.de reported that the German Bundestag condemned, in the strongest possible terms, Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. "In doing so, Russia is blatantly breaking international and humanitarian law and is attempting to permanently destroy the European peace order," the report read.

Russia-Ukraine war

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate and western nations impose more and more sanctions against Russia, the war has taken a new turn. Moldova and Georgia have decided to join the European Union and have expressed support for imposing sanctions on Russia. Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was on a visit to Moscow and Ukraine, toured areas outside Kyiv that suffered damage during the Russian advance. 

Guterres said that "civilians always pay the highest price in any war. When I see those destroyed buildings, I must say what I feel. I imagined my family in one of those houses that are now destroyed and black. He said he saw his granddaughters running away in panic, and part of the family was eventually killed. So, the war is an absurdity in the 21st century. The war is evil. And when one sees these situations, our hearts, of course, stay with the victims. "

Image: AP