The list of weapons to be sent to Ukraine, which was drawn up shortly after the collapse of the German government coalition in November 2024, includes three “Iris-T” anti-aircraft batteries and the missiles they need, anti-aircraft missiles “Patriot”, self-propelled howitzers and artillery ammunition, according to the publication.
The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense justify the need for additional assistance by the fact that the urgent needs of Kyiv could not be foreseen in the previous planning, as the military situation in Ukraine has significantly deteriorated in recent months, as the pace of Russian offensive operations has increased. In addition, after the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election, it is not clear to what extent Washington will continue to provide military support to Ukraine.
At the beginning of January, the implementation of this plan was slowed down, because Scholz unofficially made it clear that he does not support the allocation of additional funds to Kyiv.
Scholz’s reluctance to put the next German government in front of the fact is cited as the reason.
In addition, Scholz’s chancellery does not see the need for urgent action, as the four billion euros provided for in the preliminary budget of 2025 for military aid to Ukraine is sufficient. The Chancellery has also indicated the possibility of using a G7 loan of 50 billion dollars from the proceeds of frozen Russian state assets.
At the same time, “Der Spiegel” sources in the ranks of the Social Democrats (SPD) represented by Scholz, Burbok and Pistorius say that Scholz is reluctant to announce further arms deliveries to Ukraine during the election campaign, so as not to scare off potential SPD voters.