2023-11-12 23:50:00
Germany doubles the bet. The German Minister of Defense announced on Sunday evening a doubling, to 8 billion euros, of the military aid initially planned by his country for Ukraine in 2024. “This constitutes a strong signal to Ukraine showing that we let’s not let it fall,” declared Boris Pistorius on the public television channel ARD, questioned about information from the German press published on Sunday on the doubling of the budget envelope.
“It is an important signal at the precise moment when Ukraine must continue its fight, while part of the international attention is focused on Israel” and Gaza, added the minister. The increase in this military aid also responds “to the experience we had this year and which showed that the planned amounts were quickly exhausted”, he said. READ ALSO Crisis in the United States: what will happen to aid to Ukraine?
The German government had initially planned an aid package, mainly in military equipment, to the tune of 4 billion euros. But the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government coalition have just agreed on a doubling. The decision must be formalized during a vote in committee of the Chamber of Deputies next Thursday.
The war at an “impasse”
Since the start of the Russian invasion, Germany has been a major contributor to support for kyiv, having provided some €22 billion to Ukraine in humanitarian, financial and military aid. Berlin notably sent tanks, armored vehicles, ammunition and anti-aircraft defense systems to kyiv.
But Germany is reluctant to deliver long-range Taurus missiles insistently requested by kyiv, for fear that they will be used to target Russian territory. The German announcement comes as the Ukrainian counter-offensive against Russian forces seems to be stalling, with the front line largely frozen.
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, in a recent interview with The Economist, estimated that the two armies were trapped in a war of attrition and positions and spoke of a “stalemate”.
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