Germany plans to halve its military assistance to Ukraine by next year, despite the potential return of Republican candidate Donald Trump to the White House, which could lead to reduced U.S. support for Kyiv. According to a draft budget for 2025 reviewed by media outlets, Germany will decrease assistance to Ukraine from approximately eight billion euros in 2024 to four billion euros (4.35 billion dollars) in 2025.
Germany hopes Ukraine can cover most of its military needs through a 50 billion dollar loan from frozen Russian assets, which the G7 countries have agreed upon, and wishes that not all allocated funds for arms will be spent. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said at a press conference on Wednesday, "The financing of Ukraine is secured in the short term thanks to European financial instruments and G7 loans."
Concerns were raised across Europe this week after Trump chose Senator J.D. Vance, who opposes military aid to Ukraine and warns Europe against relying on the United States for protection. Trump has faced sharp criticism from Western officials for his statements about not protecting countries that do not meet NATO defense spending goals and even encouraging Russia to attack these countries. Germany has been criticized for repeatedly failing to meet NATO's goal of spending two percent of its economic output on defense.
