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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius hopes the Federal Government of Germany will allocate additional funds for arms supplies to Ukraine
This was reported by Spiegel
During a visit to troops in Saarlouis, the minister stated that negotiations to increase the current 2024 budget of €7.5 billion for Ukraine are “promising” and will likely be concluded by the end of the week. “Then we will be talking about a significant amount in the hundreds of millions of euros,” Pistorius said, which could provide further military aid to Ukraine.
Since the NATO summit in July this year, Pistorius has warned that the billions previously allocated in the budget for military support to Ukraine have largely been used up. As a result, he publicly called for an increase in the budget for the current year.
Pistorius did not specify on Tuesday how much money the German government would now allocate. According to Spiegel, his department hopes for nearly half a billion euros. This would allow the urgent ordering of spare parts, without which some of the already supplied German weapon systems cannot be made ready for further use on the frontlines.
According to the publication, Pistorius previously presented a list to the government outlining additional needs of up to €4 billion for the current year alone. He intends to use this money to supply Ukraine with more ammunition, urgently needed spare parts for already supplied weapons systems, and additional Leopard 1A5 tanks. However, Finance Minister Christian Lindner has urged the federal government to be frugal. Lindner also hinted several times that Pistorius’s office had not provided concrete lists of what Ukraine urgently needed.
For Ukraine, an increase in German funding would be a success, even if it amounts to significantly less than the €4 billion actually needed. Not only in Kyiv, but also elsewhere, there are concerns that due to the difficult financial situation, Germany may stop providing military aid to Ukraine. As Berlin is currently the second-largest supporter of Kyiv, among other allies such as the U.S., U.K., and other Europeans, there are fears that a sort of domino effect could occur.
Earlier, German media reported that the current budget planning of the German federal government does not provide for additional funds to support Ukraine, and further requests from the German Defense Ministry for military assistance to Ukraine will no longer be approved at the chancellor’s request.
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