The German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAS) writes that Germany will limit aid to Ukraine in the near future — they will deliver only already approved aid without allocating new aid. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls this statement manipulative.
According to the newspaper, Finance Minister Christian Lindner informed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on August 5 that only the aid that has already been approved will be allocated to Ukraine, and no other applications will be approved.
This means that the amount of German aid should not exceed €8 billion pledged for this year and €4 billion pledged for the next.
Deutsche Welle writes that the German government has previously discussed refusing permanent payments for military support to Ukraine from the federal budget. Instead, Berlin plans to finance the arms shipments with the frozen assets of the Russian central bank.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Lindner expect that Ukraine will cover a significant part of its military needs with this money, writes FAS. At the same time, as a member of the budget committee of the Bundestag, Andreas Schwartz, explained to the newspaper, it is currently unknown whether this is at all possible from a legal point of view and how quickly the money can be used for Ukraineʼs needs.
What they say in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
In a comment to Ukrinform, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tykhiy , called the statement on the termination of aid incorrect and manipulative.
According to him, the budget process is indeed ongoing in Germany, "which we are closely monitoring." It is expected that the budget will be approved in November, and only then will the level of support to Ukraine for the next year be known.
"Currently, as last year, the German government has planned a certain amount of aid to Ukraine in the draft budget. It is similar to the one that was planned last year at this stage of the budget process. Last year, this amount increased at the parliamentary stage of approving the budget in the fall," Tykhy recalled.
- In mid-July, Reuters wrote that Germanyʼs draft budget for 2025 calls for €4 billion in military aid to Ukraine instead of roughly €8 billion in 2024. This is probably due to the slow recovery of the economy after that yearʼs recession, which Germany overcame at the beginning of the year.
- At the same time, in the German draft budget for 2024, too little money was allocated for Ukraine, there was more than €5 billion missing. However, after long negotiations, Germany doubled its military support to Ukraine — from €4 billion to €8 billion.
- Since the beginning of the war , Ukraine has received €28 billion worth of military equipment.