Ukraine has received a much-needed boost to its military with the delivery of a fresh batch of aid from Germany.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that Germany will send Ukraine €7 billion, or approximately $7.6 billion, in military aid for 2024. The announcement came just after a phone call between Scholz and President Joe Biden, whose own requested $60 billion aid package for Ukraine remains stalled in Congress.
On Wednesday, the German government announced that Ukraine had received a delivery that included an unspecified amount of ammunition for its German-made Leopard battle tanks, 25 Heidrun reconnaissance drones, 50 satellite communications terminals, 16 tanker trucks, eight armored personnel carriers, five border protection vehicles, and 1,840 helmets.
An additional package including 124 Heidrun drones, 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 15 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 24 tanker trucks, and 20 refrigerator trucks was said to be "in planning" or "in execution," with the German government noting that it "abstains from providing details on transportation modalities and dates until after handover" for security reasons.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs via email on Wednesday.
Having donated €17.1 billion (about $18.6 billion), since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Germany trails only the United States as Kyiv's second-largest single contributor of military aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
Scholz's commitment to donate billions to Ukraine this year was not without controversy. Thierry Breton, the internal market commissioner for the European Union (EU), lashed out at the chancellor for "trying to go solo" instead of donating the money to a Ukraine weapons fund facilitated by the EU's European Peace Facility, according to The Telegraph.
Germany remains under pressure to send Kyiv long-range Taurus missiles, a move that Scholz has resisted despite growing calls from Bundestag leaders. The pressure increased on Tuesday after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his government was sending Ukraine a new shipment of its similar SCALP cruise missiles.
An EU aid package for Ukraine worth around $54 billion was blocked last month by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has often been called an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU's executive branch the European Commission, said in a speech to the European Parliament on Wednesday that she was "confident" all 27 EU member states would soon agree to pass the aid package, according to Reuters.
The EU's legislature is reportedly set to vote Thursday on a resolution that condemns the "deliberate, continuous and systematic efforts of the Hungarian government to undermine the founding values of the EU" and describes Orbán's veto as "in full disrespect... of the EU's strategic interests."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
