Fighting for 'our freedom'
Kyiv has for weeks been pleading with Germany to send armaments to help face down an invasion by Russia.
Ukraine's wish list, seen by AFP, included mid-range anti-aircraft rocket systems, anti-drone rifles, microwave destruction systems and munitions.
Berlin's obstinate refusal until now to approve weapons deliveries, and a previous decision to send only 5,000 helmets, had sparked anger and mockery.
Hours before Germany's key policy shift, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki became the latest leader to hit out at Berlin over its weapons exports stance as he arrived in Berlin for talks with Scholz.
"Five thousand helmets? That must be some kind of joke. There needs to be real help... weapons," he said, stressing that Ukraine is not just fighting for itself.
"They are also fighting for us. For our freedom, our sovereignty. So that we aren't next in line," he said.
Morawiecki had also voiced frustration with Berlin for dawdling on agreeing "crushing" sanctions, including booting Russia out of the SWIFT system that banks rely on to transfer money.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner had earlier this week laid out starkly the preoccupation of Europe's biggest economy: suspension of SWIFT "would mean that there is a high risk that Germany will no longer receive gas, raw material supplies from Russia."
Lindner told public television he was "open" to including SWIFT "in the course of possible further toughening of sanctions," while adding that allies would "have to be aware of the consequences".
But with pressure mounting from allies, Berlin said it was now working on excluding Russia from the system in a "targeted and functional" way.
"We are working at the same time urgently on limiting the collateral damage from an exclusion from SWIFT so that [the measure] hits the right people," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint statement.
"What we need is a targeted and functional limitation of SWIFT," they added.
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