Germany to cut military aid for Ukraine

Germany plans to reduce its military aid for Kiev amid tough budget constraints, according to a report.

Based on the current budget planning, the federal government no longer wants to provide Ukraine with any new aid payments for savings reasons, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) newspaper reported, citing documents and e-mail communication among German ministries.

Ukraine's one of the most important allies in the ongoing war against Russia, Germany will only provide military aid that has already been approved. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is said to have requested against any new military aid approvals.

The newspaper said Finance Minister Christian Lindner made a corresponding request in a letter to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on August 5.

It said "new measures" should only be taken if the budget plans for this and the coming years are financially secured.

In the future, Germany and the European Union are planning to use the profits obtained from the frozen Russian assets for military aid to Ukraine.

Several governments, including the United States, Australia, Japan, and EU nations have frozen or immobilized Russian sovereign assets worth over $280bn since the start of the war in October, 2022.