The German government and parliament want to step up military aid to Ukraine from €2.2 billion to €5.4 billion. This was reported by Spiegel, citing a classified letter from the German government.
According to the media outlet, on Tuesday, March 28, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag together with the German Ministry of Finance will hold a private meeting to announce the increase of the budget to support Ukraine.
During this fiscal year, Berlin has already allocated €2.2 billion for the "modernization of partner states in the fields of security, defense, and stabilization." The country’s Ministry of Defense uses this money to pay for a significant part of the weapons supply to Ukraine as well as to replace the systems delivered from the storage of the Bundeswehr.
But that’s not all. In the coming years, Germany plans to allocate an additional €8.8 billion. Therefore, the Ministry of Defense will be able to conclude contracts for the respective amount. So far, only €1 billion has been planned for this purpose. The total amount of aid to Ukraine from Germany in the coming years will be increased from the current €3.2 billion to more than €15 billion.
"Due to the large material losses, Ukraine’s Armed Forces need new supplies of materials. In order to sustainably equip the Armed Forces, numerous supply contracts must be concluded as soon as possible, which also establishes payment obligations for future fiscal years," the German Ministry of Finance explains the additional need for funds in the letter.
The money will be used to purchase new air defense systems, armored tracked vehicles, and ammunition for all types of weapons. This amount also includes the repair and maintenance of weapons already supplied by Germany, in particular, Leopard battle tanks, Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers, and Gepard anti-aircraft guns.
Earlier, it was reported that the first German Leopard 2 tanks had already arrived in Ukraine.
