Scholz blocks new aid package for Ukraine - Der Spiegel
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz opposes the allocation of additional aid to Kyiv worth €3 billion, which is advocated by Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
According to Censor.NET, DW writes about this with reference to Der Spiegel.
It is noted that Burbock and Pistorius want about three billion euros to be allocated for the supply of weapons to Ukraine before the Bundestag elections. However, this is opposed by Federal Chancellor Scholz's office.
The list of weapons to be sent to Ukraine, which was drawn up shortly after the collapse of the German government coalition in November 2024, included three Iris-T air defence batteries with missiles, Patriot missiles, ten wheeled howitzers and artillery ammunition, the newspaper notes. According to the newspaper, the German Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defence justified the need for additional assistance by saying that Kyiv's urgent needs could not have been foreseen in previous planning: in particular, Ukraine's military situation has deteriorated significantly in recent months due to the acceleration of the Russian offensive, and after Donald Trump won the US presidential election, it became unclear whether Washington would continue to provide military support to Ukraine after the inauguration on 20 January.
The implementation of this plan was halted in early January because the Chancellor's office unofficially made it clear that it did not support the allocation of additional funds to Kyiv. According to Spiegel, the reason given was the unwillingness to put the future German government to the test. In addition, Scholz's office sees no need for urgent action, as it considers about €4 billion provided for in the preliminary budget for 2025 for military assistance to Ukraine sufficient, and points to the possibility of using the $50 billion loan provided by the G7 through proceeds from frozen Russian assets.
Der Spiegel's sources among the Social Democrats suggest that Scholz does not want to announce further arms supplies to Ukraine in the midst of the election campaign, so as not to alienate potential voters of Social Democratic Party of Germany.
As a reminder, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejects the opposition's claims that he is allegedly preparing to meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
