Germany's defense ministry requests additional €3.8 billion from the government to provide aid to Ukraine, reports Bild am Sonntag, citing its sources.
According to the publication, the German Ministry of Defense has identified an additional need of 3.8 billion euros in aid to Ukraine this financial year. Of the available €7.1 billion that the German government allocated for military support to Kiev this year, almost all has been allocated, leaving only 300 million to buy new weapons or ammunition, the newspaper noted.
The head of the German Ministry of Defense Boris Pistorius met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz on May 15 and with Finance Minister Christian Lindner on May 16. The request for additional funds must be submitted to Parliament for approval in June.
The German finance ministry, as the newspaper points out, has signaled its approval. “Germany must not fail in strengthening the defense of Ukraine. If possible, we should deliver more weapons this year,”, the ministry said. “If we manage to reach a consensus in the government, we will find solutions in the current financial year”, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The situation with the 2025 budget, according to Bild am Sonntag, is getting more complicated. Pistorius announced additional costs for the Bundeswehr in the amount of 6.7 billion euros Germany's Ministry of Defense has earmarked a record amount - 15 billion euros - for aid to Ukraine.
Germany is the second largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the United States. In total, Germany has allocated funds for military support to Kiev and committed to future spending of around 28 billion euros.