Germany has made mistakes in its effort to support Ukraine, including sending badly needed weapons "too late" to the country after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Sunday.
Germany has "always been too late" with its weapons deliveries, Habeck told the German public broadcaster ARD's talk show "Miosga."
He lamented the delayed shipments of Leopard tanks and said this strategy is now repeating itself over the delivery of the Taurus cruise missiles, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz staunchly opposes.
Habeck supports sending Kiev the Taurus systems but noted that caution and a cool head are needed on this.
The minister, who is also vice chancellor, did back Scholz's recent phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which provoked hefty criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and others.
Habeck wondered how you could be involved in discussions about the conflict if you don't talk to the warring parties. Scholz's conversation with Putin was the first time in two years the two had spoken on the phone.
A significant portion of the talk show was devoted to a controversial heating law in Germany which promoted heat pumps, but which received massive criticism throughout the country because of what many saw as a poor roll out.
Habeck, who is from the Green Party, admitted the government did not publish the subsidies available to homeowners for installing the pumps but blamed that on his coalition partners - the pro-business Free Democrats and surprisingly, he said, Scholz's Social Democrats. Habeck said they didn't want to publish the details. He warned opposition conservatives against reducing or cutting public subsidies supporting the changeover in case they win the election in February.
