Germany should send Ukraine weapons, says Munich Security Conference chief-designate

FILE PHOTO: Christoph Heusgen, Chancellor Angela Merkel's Security Advisor attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, May 13, 2015. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany should step up its leadership on the international stage and liberalize its arms exports policy, including to consider sending weapons to Ukraine, the future chief of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, said in an interview.

Germany has come under fire for refusing to send weapons to Ukraine, unlike other Western allies, amid fears of a fresh Russian invasion. Germany has a long-standing policy of not exporting weapons to war zones rooted partly in its bloody 20th-century history and resulting pacifism.