Defense Minister Pistorius announced the delivery of three missile launch systems to Ukraine during his visit to the United States. He assured his American colleague Austin of Germany’s greater military commitment.

Germany will pay for the delivery of three HIMARS rocket artillery systems from the United States to Ukraine. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this decision in Washington after talks with his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin.

“They come from US Armed Forces stocks and are paid for by us,” he said. The systems cost more than millions. HIMARS („High Mobility Artillery Rocket System”) is a multiple rocket launcher artillery system mounted on a truck chassis.

Pistorius emphasizes Germany’s increasing commitment

Ahead of the NATO summit in July, Pistorius wants to use his trip to the United States and Canada to, among other things, correct the critical view of Germany that emerged in previous years and illustrate Germany’s stronger military commitment.

Pistorius stressed Germany’s readiness to bear more military responsibility for security in Europe and the world. He announced that Germany was ready to make „further contributions for a fair transatlantic burden-sharing.” He pointed to the achievement of NATO’s 2% target, the continued deployment of a combat-ready brigade in Lithuania and the Air Defense in Europe initiative initiated by Germany.

Meanwhile, during his meeting with Austin at the Pentagon, Pistorius called on the US government not to relax its shared commitment to Europe. Pistorius was received there with full military honours.

Praise from Austin

In a speech at the Pentagon, Austin pointed to what Germany is doing to defend Ukraine and NATO, as well as security in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans.

“Whether it is deterring Kremlin aggression or promoting stability in the Indo-Pacific region, our two proud democracies are moving forward,” Austin said, describing Germany as a “force for peace and security.” “Germany remains one of our strongest and most reliable partners,” he said.

Billion orders in the United States of America

The previous day, Pistorius visited a helicopter factory owned by Boeing Defense in Philadelphia. The CH47-F Chinook heavy transport helicopter is produced there. Germany has ordered 60 of them in the latest Block II variant for the German Army. In the future, they will be the backbone of the Air Force when it comes to transporting personnel and materials. Pistorius was assured that everything was on schedule and delivery could take place by 2027.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Germany has ordered weapons and equipment for the German army worth 23 billion euros from the United States. In total, there are about 380 contracts with US defense companies.

Ukraine wants to regain the initiative

With the arrival of Western weapons, Ukraine wants to regain the initiative on the front. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a press conference with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mitsola, in Kiev that the Russian armed forces are currently launching an attack in eastern Ukraine, and this is not a secret.

“As soon as the arms shipments arrive, we will stop their initiative,” Zelensky promised. But his army needs „something strong” to make this happen. An outdoor press conference in front of the presidential office was canceled shortly afterwards due to an air raid warning.

According to Zelensky, the Russian army is currently preparing for a major attack. For this purpose, forces will be gathered in the north and east of the front. However, not everything is going as well for the Russians as they thought. The Ukrainian president emphasized: “It is not that I want to raise your morale. This is the reality.”

US President’s announcement Joe BidenThe move to suspend arms sales to Israel if it invades densely populated residential areas in Rafah has drawn strong criticism from the Israeli government. Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben Gvir wrote on the X platform that the Islamic movement Hamas loves Biden.

In turn, Israeli opposition politicians criticized Ben Gvir for putting Israel in danger with such statements. However, Ben Gvir, who is considered a far-right extremist, is not a member of the war cabinet and therefore is not directly involved in key decisions in the Gaza war.

President Isaac Herzog also responded to Ben Gvir X’s post. “We must refrain from baseless, irresponsible and offensive comments and tweets,” he said.

The United States is said to have suspended the delivery of heavy bombs to Israel

Before Ben Gvir, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, had already expressed his disappointment with Biden’s announcement. Erdan told Israeli Kan radio: “This is a difficult and very disappointing statement from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war.” Biden’s announcement would give Israel’s enemies such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran „hope of success.”

Biden had told CNN that he supports a large-scale invasion of the southern city, which is crowded with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees. Gaza strip His country will not supply weapons. The US government had already detained a shipment of ammunition due to Israeli actions in Rafah. American media reported that the shipment included 3,500 bombs, including bombs weighing 2,000 pounds (907 kg). According to analysts, Israel uses these devices in the war against Hamas, for example to destroy underground Islamist tunnels.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained to Congress on Wednesday that the United States expects Israel to take specific measures in Gaza to protect civilians. However, 2,000-pound bombs can cause „collateral damage.”

„Deep frustration” over limited US support

The news portal reported that senior Israeli officials expressed „deep frustration” over the seized shipment and warned that it could jeopardize indirect negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. Axios With reference to two anonymous sources.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote in a statement that Israel had received a reminder “that the war of independence is still ongoing.” When it was founded in 1948, the country also faced a US arms embargo. “Today we will once again achieve complete victory in this war, despite President Biden’s opposition and the arms embargo. We simply have no other choice because this war is an existential battle and anything less than comprehensive victory puts the existence of the United Nations at risk.” “The Jewish state will be put in danger,” Smotrich said.

Follow all the current events in the war between Israel and Hamas on our live blog.

Parliament in Kyiv approves the use of prisoners on the front

Ukraine bombs Russian targets – fires and casualties

Great Britain wants to expel the Russian military attaché

GPS interference: Estonia appoints Russian charge d’affaires