BERLIN, April 9. /TASS/. The German defense company Rheinmetall said it will send 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukrainian by the end of the year.

The order was placed by the German government in March, the company said in a statement.

"The delivery of this new lot is scheduled within 2024," the statement said.

The company hasn’t disclosed the exact value of the contract. To date, the company has already supplied 100 Marder infantry fighting vehicles to the Ukrainian armed forces.

Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US. It has either spent or committed to spend a total of about 28 billion euros on military support to Kiev. Russia has repeatedly stated that arms deliveries to Kiev will only prolong the conflict in Ukraine.