Germany’s Scholz blocks new € 3 billion Ukraine aid package

Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock are pushing for a new €3 billion military aid package for Ukraine, while Chancellor Olaf Scholz considers this unnecessary, Spiegel reported on 9 January.

This comes as Russian forces advance in eastern Ukraine, US President-elect Donald Trump, who may reduce military aid to Ukraine, prepares to assume office on 20 January, and Germany heads into February 23 parliamentary elections to usher in a new government.

According to Spiegel, the defense and foreign ministries have been working on the new aid package since November 2024, following the German ruling coalition breakup. The defense ministry’s Ukraine staff experts have prepared a list of urgently needed weapon systems, including three additional Iris-T air defense batteries with ammunition, additional Patriot missiles, ten wheeled howitzers, and more artillery ammunition.

The ministries planned to request extraordinary funding from the Bundestag’s budget committee before the election, a mechanism previously used for Ukraine assistance. Both ministers view this as an important signal of continued German support, according to Spiegel.

Baerbock and Pistorius argue that Ukraine’s urgent needs weren’t foreseeable during previous planning, Spiegel says. Their ministries cite Russia’s accelerated advance and Ukraine’s loss of key defensive positions in recent months as factors severely deteriorating Ukraine’s military situation. They also note uncertainty about continued US military support following Donald Trump’s election victory, with his term beginning 20 January.

The chancellor’s office informally indicated it wouldn’t support the additional billions in funding, Spiegel reports. Sources told Spiegel that Scholz’s office justified its veto by not wanting to commit the future government to fait accompli decisions and seeing no urgent need for action. They cite approximately €4 billion in military aid available for 2025 under provisional budget management, plus access to a $50 billion G7 credit facility funded by frozen Russian state assets.

Without the support of the Chancellery, the plan has no chance of being implemented, as per Spiegel.

Circles of Pistorius and Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) speculate that the Chancellor may be avoiding announcing additional Ukraine weapons deliveries during the election campaign to prevent alienating potential SPD voters, while Baerbock’s Greens are campaigning on increased defense spending, Spiegel says.

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