The Russian Foreign Ministry has asked Romania to “recognize everything” regarding the arms supplies that Bucharest will send to Ukraine, accusing that Russia “now knows” what the humanitarian aid that our country provides to the neighboring state means.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, the spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, Maria Zakharova, said that “recently, the Romanian news agency reported on a telephone conversation between the Minister of National Defense of Romania, Vasile Dinka, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Reznikov. , who expressed gratitude for the recently approved fifth package of military aid to Romania for Ukraine”.

The Ministry of Defense in Bucharest did not report any new conversation between the two ministers, let alone the “military aid package” to Ukraine, it is not clear what Maria Zakharova is referring to. Bucharest officials have also repeatedly emphasized that Romania’s position is not to disclose the military aid sent to Ukraine.

Instead, MAPN announced in a statement published on the ministry’s website that Vasile Dincu met with Kyiv-based Deputy Defense Minister Denis Sharapov on Wednesday in Bucharest. Zakharova may have confused two Kyiv officials, but the statement published by MAPN does not mention the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

At the same time, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the “fifth package” of military aid approved by Bucharest includes “small arms, ammunition and components for military equipment.”

“This is the first time it has become so clearly and publicly known, although earlier there were videos on social networks showing the use of Romanian-made projectiles by the Ukrainian armed forces,” she continued her speech to Russian journalists. .

Maria Zakharova says that it is “clear” what the humanitarian aid that Romania provides to Ukraine means

She also noted that “Bucharest avoids publicity related to these topics, preferring to tell Romanians and international public opinion only about the ‘humanitarian’ support provided to Ukraine.” Now it is clear what “humanitarian” means,” she accused.

“The Romanian authorities obviously feel moral discomfort in connection with the implementation of NATO directives to send more and more lethal vehicles, realizing the real consequences of this ideological policy. Instead of this false shame, they should admit everything,” Zakharova demanded.

“Tell your people and the whole world how things really are. Do not be afraid. “Repeatedly sending weapons to Ukrainian nationalists to fight against their own people only prolongs the conflict (if Bucharest doesn’t know it) and leads to new victims,” ​​she added.

“Those who do this share responsibility with the nationalist regime in Kyiv for the crimes, blood and suffering that they will only increase. If Romanian officials think that none of this matters, that’s their opinion. But it would be nice to share some “discoveries” about these shipments. What are they sending to the Kyiv regime?”, she concluded.

Romania’s position is not to specify which weapons it sends to Kyiv

At a press conference held on April 12, President Klaus Iohannis said that it was not good to make “long public statements” on this matter.

“Obviously, NATO also sends military aid to Ukraine, which is very good, by the way. But I don’t think it’s very good to make long public statements about what this or that country is doing specifically in this area,” the president answered when asked what weapons Romania sends to Ukraine.

He reiterated his stance during another press conference in early July, saying it was “wise not to give important information to the adversary.”

“I can tell you what I have said on other occasions. We are at war, not in the situation we talk about quietly over coffee. The war is right next to us, and it is wise not to give vital information to the enemy. We publicly declare that we are helping Ukraine with everything we can, and that is what we are doing,” he said.

When asked about the discrepancies between the communications of Romania and neighboring countries, which have publicly stated what they sent to Ukraine, Klaus Iohannis replied that “this is our approach, because we are direct neighbors with Ukraine, and we believe that it is better for us and for Ukraine”. for us to help them.”

The Romanian government denied sending shells to the Ukrainian army

On August 8, the administrators of the well-known Ukraine Weapons Tracker Twitter page, which monitors the weapons and equipment used in the war in the neighboring country, published a video in which it is claimed that the Ukrainian military is firing 122 mm projectiles manufactured by Romarm in 2022. .

In the pictures, Ukrainian military personnel loaded shells into a self-propelled howitzer 2C1 “Gvozdika” with a 122-millimeter turret, a combat vehicle that entered service with the Armed Forces of the USSR in 1972. This type of howitzer and its variants were exported or manufactured under license. in all states of the former Soviet bloc, including Romania.

The Romanian Army kept in reserve the 6 2S1 models it had had since 2005, as well as another 42 OAPR Model 89 (Romanian Self-Propelled Howitzer, Model 89), an indigenous variant of the weapon that combined a Soviet-model turret with the chassis used MLI-84 (model 1984 BMP).

In a response sent to HotNews, Romarm said that he does not comment on unverified information and speculations that appear on social networks.

For his part, Economy Minister Florin Spataru said that checks are being carried out, but according to the first information, the ammunition was not delivered from Romania.

“This symbol that appears in the photos has nothing to do with Romania,” Spataru said.

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