Germany to reduce military aid for Ukraine amid budget constraints

BERLIN

Germany plans to lower its military aid for Ukraine amid tough budget constraints, according to a report.

Based on the current budget planning, the federal government no longer wants to provide Ukraine with any new aid payments for savings reasons, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) newspaper reported, citing documents and e-mail communication among German ministries.

Germany, which is one of Ukraine's most important allies in the war against Russia that started in February 2022, will only provide military aid that has already been approved. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to have requested against any new military aid approvals.

The daily said Finance Minister Christian Lindner made a corresponding request in a letter to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Aug. 5.

It said "new measures" should only be taken if the budget plans for this and the coming years are financially secured.

In the future, Germany and the EU are planning to use the profits obtained from the frozen Russian assets for military aid to Ukraine.

Several governments, including the US, Australia, Japan, and EU nations have frozen or immobilized Russian sovereign assets worth over $280 billion since 2022.