Germany’s partners in the European Union (EU) must provide more active military support to Ukraine, as the promised volumes are currently insufficient and Berlin alone will not be able to provide a support for Kiev. German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced this on January 8.
“No matter how important Germany’s contribution is, it alone will not be enough to guarantee Ukraine’s long-term security. I call on the European Union to step up its efforts. The arms deliveries planned so far to Ukraine by most member countries are too low,” he declared after negotiations with Luxembourg Prime Minister Luc Frieden in Berlin.
Scholz stressed that by the European summit on February 1, it will be necessary to draw up a precise overview of the specific contribution that Germany’s partners will make to support Ukraine in 2024.
He also added that Berlin intends to continue supporting kyiv as before. To this end, the government is “in daily contact” with industry representatives to achieve faster and larger arms deliveries to Ukraine. Since February 2022, the total amount of German aid to Ukraine – military, financial and humanitarian – has exceeded 25 billion euros.
Earlier, on January 6, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said that Germany pays half of European aid to Ukraine. He stressed that other financially powerful European states should make more efforts to help kyiv.
On January 4, it was reported that Germany transferred another package of military assistance to Ukraine, including 10 Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), ammunition for Leopard 2 tanks of modern modification A6 and the Skynex air defense system.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky emphasized on December 20 that Germany was the second country in the world in terms of aid to Ukraine. However, he said kyiv would gauge Berlin’s support through real actions, not words of support.
On December 13, Scholz announced that the German federal budget for 2024 included 8 billion euros in military and financial aid to Ukraine. He also promised once again to provide this support for as long as necessary.
Before that, on December 7, scientists from the leading classical university and research center of Germany – the University of Kiel – calculated that the volume of military, financial and humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine by the states Western countries between August and October 2023 had decreased by almost 90% compared to the same period in 2022. In three months, of the 42 states offering assistance to Kiev, only 20 committed to providing new assistance programs, they reported.
Western countries have increased their military and financial support to Ukraine in the context of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022 due to the worsening situation in the region at the following the Ukrainian bombings. At the same time, more and more frequent statements have recently been made in the West about the need to reduce support for kyiv.
