Germany has budgeted a record amount to support Ukraine in 2026
15 November 08:20
Germany’s ruling parties have decided to significantly increase military aid to Ukraine, according to a draft budget that was agreed upon during a 15-hour meeting that ended on the morning of Friday, November 14.
Coalition MPs planned to allocate 11.5 billion euros to Kyiv, Politico writes, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
This is the highest amount since the start of the full-scale war that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin unleashed in 2022 and is equivalent to half of the funds that Berlin has already provided to Kyiv. The amount is equal to 2.2% of total expenditures included in the draft budget.
the “Ukrainian” item of expenditure has undergone the most significant changes, Tagesschau notes. The Ministry of Finance has proposed to increase its allocations by €3 billion compared to the previous version of the budget. The additional funds will be spent on artillery, drones, armored vehicles, and two Patriot air defense systems.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently said that he intends to order 25-27 Patriot systems from the United States and convince European partners to help him with this. According to Zelenskyy, they could transfer their systems to Ukraine and later receive new ones from the United States instead. A number of countries have also allocated funds to a special fund designed to purchase American weapons for Ukraine.
Germany ranks second after the United States in terms of aid to Ukraine in nominal terms, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. By mid-October, it had allocated €22.5 billion, including €17.7 billion in military aid, €3.4 billion in humanitarian aid, and €1.4 billion in financial aid. As a share of GDP (0.6%), Germany ranks 14th among Ukraine’s allies.
According to a report by the Kiel Institute, military aid from European countries fell by 57% this summer, following the halt in arms sales by Washington after Donald Trump came to power.
