Berlin offers Kiev another €5 billion
Berlin will provide Kiev with another €5 billion ($5.6 billion) in military aid on top of the €28 billion it has given since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in early 2022, the German Defense Ministry has announced. Moscow has stated in response that further assistance to Ukraine could precipitate the 'collapse' of Germany.
The funds promised by Berlin would principally be used to 'finance the production of long-range weapon systems in Ukraine,' the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, who arrived in Berlin together with Vladimir Zelensky, signed a defense cooperation deal between the two countries.
'A significant number' of long-range weapon systems can be manufactured inside Ukraine this year, the statement read without specifying the types of arms.
The first of those weapons could be deployed by Kiev against Russian forces 'in just a few weeks' as Ukrainian troops are already familiar with them and will not require additional training, it added.
The €5 billion would also cover German deliveries of ammunition, including for air defense systems, small arms and medical equipment, the ministry said.
During a joint press conference with Zelensky on Wednesday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Berlin and Kiev 'want to ensure joint production' of long-range armaments, but declined to reveal any details. There will be no range restrictions on the weapons and Kiev will be allowed to attack targets outside its own territory, he stressed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reacted to Merz's statement by saying that Berlin's 'direct involvement in the war is now obvious.'
'Germany is sliding down the same slippery slope it already followed a couple of times in the last century – down toward its own collapse,' Lavrov stressed, referring to the defeats suffered by the country in the First and Second World wars.
Moscow has repeatedly insisted that Western arms deliveries to Ukraine will not stop it from reaching its military objectives, but will only prolong the conflict and raise the risk of a confrontation with NATO. The Kremlin warned that the latest 'provocative actions' by EU states could derail the US-brokered diplomatic process between Russia and Ukraine, which restarted last month after a three-year break.
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