Andrew Neil claims that Germany was  “in no rush to stop itself funding President Putin’s war machine” after Berlin delayed shipping heavy weapons to war-torn Ukraine for weeks.

On Thursday, an overwhelming vote in favour of providing Ukraine with “large weapons and complicated [weapon] systems” means Kyiv is finally receiving what it has been asking for weeks.

However, while the petition’s passage — with 586 votes in favour, 100 against, and seven abstentions — constitutes a significant and largely welcomed shift in policy for the European country, some believe that it came too late.

According to Mr Neil, from a military standpoint, Olaf Scholz’s government should have made the move far sooner – without “months of prevarication and excuses

“The former BBC presenter said: “Better late than never, you might think.

“Except that the 50 Gepard (German for cheetah) anti-aircraft vehicles it has approved first saw service in the 1960s and, despite several upgrades, haven’t been part of the German army’s arsenal for over a decade.

“But if Berlin was reluctant to arm Ukraine, it was also in no rush to stop itself funding President Putin’s war machine.”

Mr Neil continued, “The defence corporation that had kept them in storage planned to deliver them to Ukraine in February,” based on the fact that the Gepard systems were taken out of active duty in Germany in 2010.

“But Chancellor Olaf Scholz blocked that – until this week when he finally bowed to pressure from NATO allies and powerful voices inside Germany.”

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