Germany's draft budget for 2025 outlines a plan to halve its bilateral military aid to Ukraine, relying on surpluses from frozen Russian assets to continue supporting Kyiv, according to a parliamentary source. The source indicated that Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, seeking to achieve savings, does not intend to provide "any additional aid" beyond the four billion euros allocated in next year's budget for military assistance to Ukraine, confirming reports from the media. The aid provided by Berlin, the second largest contributor after the United States, is eight billion euros this year.
To make up for the shortfall, Germany is counting on "establishing a financial mechanism, within the framework of the G7 and the European Union, using frozen Russian assets," as explained by a source in the finance ministry. The source added that "German bilateral aid will remain at a high level, but its effectiveness will depend on this mechanism." This decision was reached in agreement between the Social Democratic Chancellor and Liberal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, according to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung," in its weekend edition.
According to the weekly newspaper, Lindner requested Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (from the Social Democratic Party) on August 5 to "ensure" compliance with the four billion euro cap included in next year's budget. The draft budget for 2025 has been the subject of intense discussions within the coalition between the Liberals, Greens, and Social Democrats. The finance minister urged his colleagues to reduce spending to adhere to the "debt brake," a constitutional rule aimed at preventing excessive state borrowing.
However, the draft budget is not final yet and still needs to be discussed in parliament before being approved by the end of the year. For several months, Ukraine's allies have been working on a mechanism that would allow part of the frozen Russian assets worldwide, valued at 300 billion dollars, to be used to support Kyiv in its war against the Russian army. A "political agreement" among G7 countries was reached in mid-June regarding a U.S. proposal aimed at funding a 50 billion euro loan for Ukraine. The parliamentary source indicated that Berlin "assumes that this funding will be available starting in 2025."
