Germany blocks Estonia from exporting German-origin weapons to Ukraine -WSJ

Germany is blocking NATO ally Estonia from giving military support to Ukraine by refusing to issue permits for German-origin weapons to be exported to Kyiv as it braces for a potential Russian invasion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Germany is blocking NATO ally Estonia from giving military support to Ukraine by refusing to issue permits for German-origin weapons to be exported to Kyiv as it braces for a potential Russian invasion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department cleared Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to send U.S.-made missiles and other weapons to Ukraine as President Joe Biden predicted Russia would move on Ukraine.

Many other NATO allies, including Britain and Poland, also agreed to export weapons directly to Ukraine, but the German government declined to do so. "Germany has not supported the export of lethal weapons in recent years," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a news conference on Friday.

In the case of Estonia, Berlin is refusing to allow a third country to send artillery to Ukraine because the weaponry originated in Germany, the Journal cited Estonian and German officials as saying.