Germany affirms Ukraine military aid amid budget maneuvering

BERLIN — Amid murmurings in Berlin that the country may curtail its military support for Ukraine, the German government on Monday confirmed a long list of scheduled deliveries for Kyiv, including dozens of armored vehicles, rocket launchers and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Among the equipment the government reaffirmed it would send by the end of the year are two additional IRIS-T SLM air defense systems; two IRIS-T SLS launchers; ten Gepard anti-aircraft guns; 16 Panzerhaubitze 2000 howitzers as well as Zuzana and RCH 155 self-propelled howitzers; combat drones; several thousand rounds of artillery ammunition and ammunition for armored vehicles, and a batch of 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks.

Germany said it would also train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers this year and next.

Following the leak of a letter by German Finance Minister Christian Lindner over the weekend, media have been speculating about whether the country will be able to keep up its high level of support for Ukraine in 2025. In the missive dated Aug. 5, Lindner wrote that “new measures” should only be taken once funding is secured under a new budget – a longstanding contentious issue within the coalition government.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper first reported on the letter, which was also seen by the German press agency dpa.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Saturday about a supposed moratorium declared by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on new weapons deliveries to Ukraine beyond what has already been authorized, citing internal documents. This aligns with Lindner’s internal request to respect spending caps, which also cover defense.

Germany is Europe’s most significant backer of Kyiv’s defensive fight against Russian invaders, providing over €14 billion ($15.5 billion) in support – mostly military – between when the invasion started in February 2022 and the end of June 2024, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s public tracker.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, government spokesperson Wolfgang Büchner countered journalists’ questions on the FAZ reporting, saying that “absolutely nothing will change in our commitment and decisiveness in supporting Ukraine.” Suggesting otherwise would be “almost defamatory,” he said.

It is true, however, that Berlin is clamoring to balance a new federal budget that has been hotly contested for months. Currently, €4 billion are slated for supporting Ukraine next year, down from €7.5 billion in 2024. This year’s number was raised from an original value of €4 billion by the Bundestag, the German parliament.

Instead of taking Ukraine aid money from Germany’s budget, it would in the future come from dividends on frozen Russian assets, the German finance minister said in his internal letter. The G7 countries have vowed to use the vast frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s survival, including furnishing a $50 billion loan to the country.

Meanwhile, already-authorized German weapons deliveries will continue in 2025, Büchner confirmed on Monday. In the next calendar year, “more than 20 PzH 2000, Zuzana and RCH 155 howitzers, 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 37 Leopard 1A5s, five Gepards, three IRIS-T SLM systems and also three IRIS-T SLS systems, as well as two Skynex air defense systems and thousands of rounds of ammunition” will be transferred to Ukraine, he said.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——尽管柏林方面有传言称德国可能会削减对乌克兰的军事支持，但德国政府周一确认了一长串计划向基辅交付的物资，其中包括数十辆装甲车、火箭发射器和数万发弹药。

政府重申将在年底前交付的装备包括：两套额外的 IRIS-T SLM 防空系统；两套 IRIS-T SLS 发射器；十门猎豹高射炮；16 门 Panzerhaubitze 2000 榴弹炮以及 Zuzana 和 RCH 155 自行榴弹炮；作战无人机；数千发炮弹和装甲车辆弹药，以及一批 30 辆豹 1A5 坦克。

德国表示，今年和明年还将训练1万名乌克兰士兵。

继德国财政部长克里斯蒂安·林德纳的一封信件周末泄露后，媒体纷纷猜测德国能否在2025年继续维持对乌克兰的高水平支持。在8月5日的这封信中，林德纳写道，只有在新的预算下确保资金到位后才能采取“新措施”——这在联合政府内部一直是一个长期存在的争议问题。

《法兰克福汇报周日版》率先报道了这封信，德国新闻社 dpa 也看到了这封信。

《法兰克福汇报》周六报道称，德国总理奥拉夫·朔尔茨宣布暂停向乌克兰交付除已获授权之外的新武器，该报道援引了内部文件。这与林德纳此前要求尊重支出上限的内部呼吁相符，而国防开支也包含在内。

据基尔世界经济研究所的公开追踪数据显示，德国是欧洲支持基辅抵御俄罗斯入侵的最重要国家，从 2022 年 2 月入侵开始到 2024 年 6 月底，德国提供了超过 140 亿欧元（155 亿美元）的支持——其中大部分是军事援助。

周一，政府发言人沃尔夫冈·比希纳在新闻发布会上回应了记者们对《法兰克福汇报》报道的质疑，称“我们对乌克兰的承诺和决心绝对不会改变”。他表示，任何相反的说法都“近乎诽谤”。

然而，柏林方面确实正竭力平衡一份新的联邦预算，这份预算几个月来一直备受争议。目前，明年计划向乌克兰提供40亿欧元援助，低于2024年的75亿欧元。今年的援助金额是由德国联邦议院（德国议会）从最初的40亿欧元提高而来的。

德国财政部长在一封内部信中表示，未来德国对乌克兰的援助资金将不再来自德国预算，而是来自被冻结的俄罗斯资产的收益。七国集团已承诺利用这些被冻结的俄罗斯巨额资产来支持乌克兰的生存，其中包括向乌克兰提供500亿美元的贷款。

与此同时，布赫纳周一证实，已获批准的德国武器交付将在2025年继续进行。他表示，在下一个日历年中，将向乌克兰交付“超过20门PzH 2000、Zuzana和RCH 155榴弹炮，20辆Marder步兵战车，37辆Leopard 1A5坦克，5辆Gepard坦克歼击车，3套IRIS-T SLM系统和3套IRIS-T SLS系统，以及2套Skynex防空系统和数千发弹药”。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。