German defense company KNDS says it will not be able to supply more weapons to Ukraine in the near future, according to Managing Director Ralf Ketzel.
KNDS, formerly Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), produces weapons, including Leopard 2 main battle tanks, which Germany has supplied to Kiev since early 2023.
“The ability to deliver quickly has now been exhausted,” Ketzel told online outlet web.de on Thursday.
“Two years ago, a strategic decision should have been made that this would be a multi-year war. Then we could have delivered new material today,” Ketzel said, referring to Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022.
At the time it would not have been possible to speculate on the duration of the war, he added.
Ketzel explained that several NATO states, in addition to Ukraine, also needed equipment, partly to replace supplies delivered to Ukraine.
“This is at the expense of Ukrainian soldiers, who currently do not have superior equipment.”
Although KNDS produces equipment directly for Ukraine, Ketzel suggests that other countries could help Kiev more quickly by supplying the ordered tanks.
Ketzel also said that it is difficult to predict the extent of damage suffered by the tanks supplied to Kiev and used in the war.
According to Ketzel, obtaining spare parts for heavy military equipment is a challenge.
“We also don’t know how big the repair problem on the ground actually is. Eighty to 90% of the repairs are not done by us, but at the front.”
