Germany 'encouraging Putin' by refusing to supply weapons: Kyiv

In a separate development, the foreign ministry said it had also summoned the German ambassador to Ukraine, Anka Feldhusen, to stress "the categorical unacceptability" of comments by German naval chief Kay-Achim Schoenbach in which he called Russian plans to invade Ukraine "inept".

With tens of thousands of Russian troops gathered on the Ukrainian border, fears are mounting that a major conflict could break out in Europe.

Ukraine's calls to Western allies to bolster its defence capabilities have seen the United States, Britain and Baltic states agree to send to Kyiv weapons, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Kuleba said on Twitter that Germany's statements "about the impossibility of supplying defence weapons to Ukraine" did not match "the current security situation".

Ukraine's minister stressed that "today the unity of the West in relation to Russia is more important than ever.

"The German partners must stop undermining unity with such words and actions and encouraging (Russian President) Vladimir Putin to launch a new attack on Ukraine," Kuleba said.

Ukraine is "grateful" to Germany for the support it has already provided, but its "current statements are disappointing", he added.

Ukraine's foreign ministry added in a statement that it wanted to express its "deep disappointment" at the German's government's "failure to provide defence weapons to Ukraine".