Germany reportedly cuts military aid to Ukraine over budget cap
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The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says the suspension is already in place as this year's support will be cut in half.
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Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, on June 27, 2024. (AP)
Germany has stopped providing military help to Ukraine, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Saturday, citing the government's budget.
The report stated that considering that Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, has ordered austerity measures, the military ministry would not be able to approve any fresh requests, but previously agreed aid to Ukraine will still be provided as originally planned. According to the report, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner sent a letter to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on August 5 with a related request.
As per the report, the suspension is already in place and could make things worse for Ukraine on the battlefield. It also states that this year's support will be cut in half, and in 2027, it will be cut to less than a tenth of its current level.
This comes only two days after the US State Department has given the green light to two significant military sales to European allies Germany and Italy, totaling over $5.7 billion, as part of ongoing efforts to bolster NATO's defensive capabilities amid growing concerns over the war in Ukraine.
Last month, a draft of the 2025 budget, seen by Reuters, showed that German assistance to Ukraine will be cut to 4 billion euros ($4.35 billion) from around 8 billion euros in 2024.
Germany expects that Ukraine will manage most of its military requirements with $50 billion in loans from frozen Russian assets, agreed upon by the Group of Seven, and anticipates that not all allocated funds for armaments will be fully utilized, the news agency indicated.
"Ukraine's financing is secured for the foreseeable future thanks to European instruments and the G7 loans," stated German Finance Minister Lindner at a news conference at the time.
To date, Berlin has provided three Patriot air defense units to Kiev, the highest number provided by any country, reducing the number of Patriot systems in Germany to nine.
Despite the planned reduction in military aid to Ukraine, Germany will meet the NATO target of spending 2% of its GDP on defense in 2025, amounting to a total of 75.3 billion euros.
