Moscow: German arms deliveries to Ukraine increasingly involve Berlin in the war

Russia has warned that Germany is becoming increasingly involved in the Ukraine war because of arms deliveries to Kiev.The Kremlin also warned on Tuesday that the German government had no way of ensuring that German-supplied weapons would not be used against Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the weapons supplied by Berlin are already being used in the Donbass region.The industrial region of Donbass (Donetsk and Luhansk) was added to the Russian Federation along with Kherson and Zaporizhia by Moscow after referendums in the regions mentioned in September 2022.

Ukraine and its Western allies, including Germany, have called the move illegal and condemned it as an imperial land grab by Russia. However, much of the territory of the areas annexed by Russia is still in Ukrainian hands.On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin, like other NATO member states, had demanded that the weapons it was supplying to Ukraine should not be used against Russian territory.

Kremlin spokesman Peskov dismissed Berlin's claim, emphasizing: "Firstly, Germany has no way of verifying this. Secondly, the weapons that Germany supplied to the Kiev regime are already firing at Russian territory because Donbass is a Russian region."

He also warned that Germany's "direct and indirect involvement" in the conflict was increasing, adding: "The German chancellor should take that as a starting point."Russia launched an all-out war against neighboring Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, despite Russia's repeated warnings that Western military aid will only prolong the war, the US and European Union have shipped tens of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, including missile systems, drones, armored vehicles, tanks and communications systems.Alongside the USA, Germany is one of the largest arms suppliers to Ukraine.