Germany has issued a shocking warning over the scale of Russia’s weapons production, as it reportedly produces four times the amount the EU does.
Boris Pistorius, the country’s defence minister, said Russia only takes three months to produce the amount of weapons the EU does in a whole year.
He said Vladimir Putin has “completely switched to a war economy” in order to fuel the protracted conflict with Ukraine, which has now been raging for more than 1,000 days.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) politican spoke at an event organised by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Arnsberg in the west of the country.
He warned that Germany’s “security is a fragile commodity” and its “combat capability” needs to see more investment in order to compete with Russia.
Last week, Pistorius revealed Germany will publish a new defence industry strategy by the end of the year, which is expected to increase arms production by cutting red tape.
He said: “For too long, … the state has seen itself more as a regulator than as a partner to the defence industry. The task is to further strengthen our country’s defence industrial base in these times. Not only to maintain it, but to strengthen it.
“We therefore want to specifically improve the framework conditions for an efficient security and defence industry.”
According to a draft seen by Reuters, the new defence strategy could allow the government to take a stake in arms-makers and defence projects in “strategic cases”.
It may also contain recommendations including promoting key technologies and improving the industry’s financial framework.
Pistorius also confirmed that the government was still capable of taking action, despite the coalition between the SPD, Greens and Free Democrats falling apart.
He said: “We as the federal government will of course continue to engage in intensive discussions with the security and defence industry.”
