Germany unlocks €3bn for Ukraine as EU aid plan flounders

Germany's budget committee has cleared the way for another 3 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine even as an EU plan to mobilize as much as 40 billion euros for the country was left in shambles. 

The release of the aid package late Friday followed the passage of reforms to the constitution, pushed by the chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz to ramp up investment in military.  

It was timed to coincide with the summit of EU leaders in Brussels where aid for Ukraine and bolstering Europe's defenses was on the agenda.

But as EU leaders wound up their gathering, the plan lay in tatters, with one EU diplomat saying that the process had been "botched up".

The failure is rooted in the reality of a European Union where interest in making sacrifices for Kiev varies dramatically from country to country.

Southern nations are less eager than those in the east or the north. But in the end, even France, the bloc's biggest military power, balked at giving a thumbs-up to the aid package.

The 27-member bloc, minus Hungary, sought to put on a brave face by approving a joint statement which promised to “continue to provide Ukraine with regular and predictable financial support”.  

Germany's military aid is allocated for the purchase of weaponry including drones, munitions and units of Iris-T air-defense systems that have yet to be built and will be delivered over the next two years.

Germany also plans to authorize commitments of 8.252 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine for the years 2026 to 2029, bringing the total to more than 11 billion euros.

The flurry of European activity comes amid lingering concern about the US commitment to the war and the bloc's struggle to shore up Ukraine's position on the battlefield and strengthen its hand in upcoming talks with Russia.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin both held talks with their US counterpart Donald Trump this week, and have indicated they are prepared to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

Putin, however, has made an end to further Western military support for Ukraine a red line for Russia agreeing to a long-term truce.

In a further sign of division, Trump who has spooked European and NATO allies by his overtures to Putin and lukewarm commitment to European security suggested that the United States could take over and run Ukraine's power plants.

Zelensky has said that will make Ukraine vulnerable to further attack and warned against making concessions that would embolden Moscow.

Trump suspended Washington's continued military aid to Kiev and is making efforts to end the Ukraine war as soon as possible.

Late Friday, the Ukrainian leader thanked Germany for the new military aid, saying it would provide Kiev with “exactly what Ukraine needs most ... contracts with the German defense industry."

Berlin has been the biggest supplier of military aid to Kiev after the United States. Till now, Germany has contributed some 28 billion euros to Kiev since the war started over three years ago.

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