BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Before an international meeting to support Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced further German arms aid for Kiev. “In total, the package will be worth 400 million euros,” said the SPD politician to the “Bild” newspaper. “We are supplying additional ammunition: explosive ammunition, mortar ammunition, mine rockets. Because ammunition is what Ukraine needs most in its defense against the brutal war of aggression,” he said. “In addition, we will help with protected vehicles and mine clearance systems. But we also have an eye on the approaching winter: we will send clothing, but also electricity and heat generators.”
On Tuesday, at the US air force base Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate, senior military officials and defense ministers from numerous countries discussed further support for Ukraine in its defensive battle against Russia. “In Ramstein, for example, we are checking whether we can provide more support with training,” said Pistorius.
According to an overview by the federal government, Germany has earmarked a total of around 5.4 billion euros for primarily military support for Ukraine this year, after two billion euros in the previous year. There are commitment authorizations amounting to around 10.5 billion euros for the following years.
It remained unclear whether the equipment mentioned by Pistorius was completely new announcements – the Ministry of Defense did not comment on this on Monday evening when asked by the German Press Agency. In addition to ammunition, the list of planned German support services published online already includes around 17 field heaters and mobile mine clearance systems.
Pistorius was once again cautious about the Ukrainian demand for a delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles. “It is the duty of the entire federal government to weigh every arms shipment very carefully,” he said. A variety of political, legal, military and technical aspects need to be clarified. “It’s not easy. The federal government has not yet decided whether to send Taurus cruise missiles.” On the question of whether Taurus could be used without the help of Bundeswehr soldiers, Pistorius said: “This is also one of the questions that we are clarifying.”/sku/DP/jha