Germany will continue to support Ukraine without any "buts"

Robert Habeck, Vice Chancellor of Germany, has pledged further aid for Ukraine, and said that Germany will continue to support it without any ifs and buts.  

"Ukraine will receive money in the future with which it can buy urgently needed weapons systems. As far as I know, this will happen at the end of the year," Habeck said in an interview with the Berliner Morgenpost.

The vice chancellor recalled that Ukraine will also receive a €50 billion loan, which will be paid off with the proceeds from the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank.

Another €4 billion, Habeck says, will be available from the federal budget in 2025. If this does not happen, the authorities "will have to hold a new discussion" and "look for support in a different way".

He admitted that the transition to the planned model with the G7 loan could become a problem "if new orders can no longer be placed because the previous budget allocations have been exhausted".

"For that, we must ensure that the weapons systems are ordered now and paid for later from G7 fund," the vice chancellor said.

When asked whether Germany would step in if the US stopped supporting Ukraine, for example, under Donald Trump's presidency, Habeck replied, "Yes. Then we will not leave Ukraine alone."

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported last weekend that the current budget planning of the German federal government does not provide for additional funds to support Ukraine and that at Chancellor Scholz’s request, additional applications from the German Ministry of Defence for military aid to Ukraine will no longer be approved.

The German government denied any intention to cut military aid to Ukraine. A government spokesperson reported that the German government expects that international partners will provide Ukraine with a loan totalling US$50 billion next year, which will be covered by interest from frozen Russian assets.