Two British C-17 transport aircraft carrying weapons to Ukraine were forced to fly around German airspace after Germany refused to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine, the UK Defence Journal website revealed on Monday.
Even the flight path of the British machines was presented. “Germany’s attitude is in line with the tradition of Rapallo and Molotov-Ribbentrop,” points out former Deputy Minister of Defense Romuald Szeremietiew.
On Monday late afternoon, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told the House of Commons that Britain has supplied Ukraine with light anti-armor defensive weapon systems.
“We have taken the decision to supply Ukraine with light, anti-armor, defensive weapon systems. A small number of UK personnel will also provide early-stage training for a short period of time, within the framework of Operation ORBITAL, before then returning to the United Kingdom,” wrote Wallace in the statement published on Monday (Jen 17).
However, as the UK Defense Journal website reported, despite the defensive nature of the equipment, due to opposition from the government in Berlin, the British planes had to make significant overflights to avoid German airspace. The portal posted the route of their flight – over the North Sea and later over Denmark and Poland.
Of note is the fact that the British aircraft are avoiding German airspace. pic.twitter.com/EzldtHNP67
— George Allison (@geoallison) January 17, 2022
Professor Romuald Szeremietiew, a former lecturer at the National Defense Academy and the Academy of Military Art and a former head of the Ministry of National Defense, stresses that the attitude of the German authorities has been a part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
“In August 1920. Poland was preparing for the Battle of Warsaw against the Bolsheviks. Germany blocked ammunition and weapon shipments from the West (Czechoslovakia also followed Germany’s lead). Had it not been for Hungarian help with ammunition, Polish soldiers would not have had anything to shoot with. Fortunately, the border with Romania was in Polish hands and through it, rail transports from Hungary arrived on time. Most recently, Germany refused to allow British planes with weapons to fly over Ukraine which is on the eve, as many believe, of a Russian invasion. Fortunately, the planes bypassing Germany were able to fly over Poland to Kyiv. Germany’s attitude is in line with the tradition of Rapallo and Ribbentrop-Molotov,” Romuald Szeremietiew, the former deputy head of the Ministry of Defense, points out.