Germany will halt all new military aid to Ukraine as part of a broader plan to reduce government spending, according to a report by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). This decision affects new requests for military assistance but does not impact previously approved aid.
The FAZ report indicates that the moratorium is already in effect. Future funding for Ukraine will not come from Germany’s federal budget. Instead, it will be sourced from proceeds of frozen Russian assets, as noted in a letter from Finance Minister Christian Lindner to the German defense ministry dated August 5.
In June, Germany and other G7 countries agreed on a preliminary plan to use approximately $300 billion of Russia’s sovereign assets, which are frozen in Western financial institutions, to back a $50 billion loan to Ukraine. However, the specifics of this arrangement are still under discussion, and the process could take several months.
Germany, a leading supplier of military aid to Ukraine in Europe, had previously signaled a shift in policy last month. The coalition government, which includes the Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Liberals, had adopted a draft budget for 2025 that proposed reducing future aid to Ukraine by 50%, to €4 billion. This adjustment is intended to allocate funds to other spending priorities.
Following the Cabinet’s approval of the draft budget in mid-July, Lindner stated that Ukraine would need to depend more on European funding sources and the frozen Russian assets. The timing and availability of these funds remain uncertain.
The debate over Ukraine aid has exacerbated existing tensions within the ruling coalition in Berlin. The coalition has been grappling with internal disagreements over various issues, including the budget and welfare policies. Green leader and Economy Minister Robert Habeck has announced his intention to run for chancellor as the Greens’ candidate in the 2025 federal election, further straining the coalition.
Habeck criticized the coalition’s ability to find consensus, saying, “It’s quite obvious that this coalition has major problems finding common ground. The ideas are falling apart.”
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