Germany to Give Ukraine Up to €2 Billion to Buy Weapons With

Editor’s note: Funny how the West couldn’t find $20 billion when Yanukovich offered them the entire Ukraine gift-wrapped for that sum. But now that money is not for buying Ukraine but for killing Russians it is pouring in from all directions.

Source: Politico

Germany will increase a military support fund for foreign countries to €2 billion, of which a large share will go to Ukraine to help it purchase weapons, Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced late Friday.

Lindner wrote on Twitter that Germany will increase its Ertüchtigungshilfe — a financial support tool to strengthen military and security forces in partner countries — to €2 billion, adding that “the funds will largely benefit Ukraine.”

The fund was €225 million last year. The increase in foreign military aid will be part of Germany’s supplementary budget for this year, Lindner said, adding that Chancellor Olaf Scholz “had requested this.”

Lindner’s tweet followed earlier reports by Reuters and German media that more than €1 billion of the aid would go to Kyiv. Ukraine expects a large Russian military offensive in the east of the country and has urged Western allies, including Germany, to provide it with heavy weapons like tanks, artillery, helicopters and fighter jets.

Germany has sent Kyiv military supplies including grenades, anti-aircraft rockets, machine guns and ammunition, but not heavy weapons.

The European Union decided last week to massively increase financial support for Ukraine’s military to €1.5 billion. Part of that support, which is also supposed to allow Kyiv to buy weapons, is financed by Germany. It’s unclear how much of the fresh money that Lindner announced is actually new and how much of it Germany would have provided anyway under Berlin’s EU commitments.

Die Medienberichte sind zutreffend: Im #Ergänzungshaushalt wird die militärische #Ertüchtigungshilfe auf 2 Milliarden Euro angehoben. Die Mittel kommen weit überwiegend der #Ukraine zugute. Der @Bundeskanzler hatte dies frühzeitig angefordert. CL

— Christian Lindner (@c_lindner) April 15, 2022