Germany affirms Ukraine military aid amid budget maneuvering

BERLIN — Amid murmurings in Berlin that the country may curtail its military support for Ukraine, the German government on Monday confirmed a long list of scheduled deliveries for Kyiv, including dozens of armored vehicles, rocket launchers and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Among the equipment the government reaffirmed it would send by the end of the year are two additional IRIS-T SLM air defense systems; two IRIS-T SLS launchers; ten Gepard anti-aircraft guns; 16 Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers as well as Zuzana and RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers; combat drones; several thousand rounds of artillery ammunition and ammunition for armored vehicles, and a batch of 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks.

Germany said it would also train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers this year and next.

Following the leak of a letter by German Finance Minister Christian Lindner over the weekend, media have been speculating about whether the country will be able to keep up its high level of support for Ukraine in 2025. In the missive dated Aug. 5, Lindner wrote that “new measures” should only be taken once funding is secured under a new budget – a longstanding contentious issue within the coalition government.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper first reported on the letter, which was also seen by the German press agency dpa.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday about a supposed moratorium declared by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on new weapons deliveries to Ukraine beyond what has already been authorized, citing internal documents. This aligns with Lindner’s internal request to respect spending caps, which also cover defense.

Germany is Europe’s most significant backer of Kyiv’s defensive fight against Russian invaders, providing over €14 billion ($15.5 billion) in support – mostly military – between when the invasion started in February 2022 and the end of June 2024, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s public tracker.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, government spokesperson Wolfgang Büchner countered journalists’ questions on the FAZ reporting, saying that “absolutely nothing will change in our commitment and decisiveness in supporting Ukraine.” Suggesting otherwise would be “almost defamatory,” he said.

It is true, however, that Berlin is clamoring to balance a new federal budget that has been hotly contested for months. Currently, €4 billion are slated for supporting Ukraine next year, down from €7.5 billion in 2024. This year’s number was raised from an original value of €4 billion by the Bundestag, the German parliament.

Instead of taking Ukraine aid money from Germany’s budget, it would in the future come from dividends on frozen Russian assets, the German finance minister said in his internal letter. The G7 countries have vowed to use the vast frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s survival, including furnishing a $50 billion loan to the country.

Meanwhile, already-authorized German weapons deliveries will continue in 2025, Büchner confirmed on Monday. In the next calendar year, “more than 20 PzH 2000, Zuzana and RCH 155 howitzers, 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 37 Leopard 1A5s, five Gepards, three IRIS-T SLM systems and also three IRIS-T SLS systems, as well as two Skynex air defense systems and thousands of rounds of ammunition” will be transferred to Ukraine, he said.