German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to media, is blocking Germany's allocation of new financial aid for arms supplies to Ukraine.
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Photo – AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
The German publication Der Spiegel reported that the German leadership compiled a list of weapons for Ukraine shortly after the collapse of the government coalition last fall. The aid package included artillery shells, 10 howitzers, missiles for the Patriot air defense system and 3 Iris-T air defense systems and ammunition for them.
Now the head of the Defense Ministry Boris Pistorius and the head of the Foreign Ministry Annalena Baerbock want to allocate another 3 billion euros for the transfer of weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces before the elections to the Bundestag, NBN reports.
As the ministers explained, there is a need to allocate additional aid to Kyiv, since it could not be foreseen in the previous planning, given the change in the political and military situation – the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces has accelerated, and there is uncertainty about Washington's continued support for Kyiv after Trump's inauguration.
According to media reports, the process of allocating funds for the purchase of weapons stopped earlier this month, since Scholz's department made it clear that it is against additional funds for Kyiv.
According to journalists, the Chancellor does not want to announce the provision of new aid to Ukraine in the midst of election campaign, so as not to alienate his party's potential electorate.
Recall that earlier the head of the German government named the reason for Berlin's refusal to send German long-range missiles to Ukraine.