BERLIN (AFP) — Germany on Friday approved three billion euros ($3.25 billion) in new military aid for Ukraine, just days before planned United States-brokered talks with Moscow and Kyiv on a limited truce.
The money is earmarked for defense equipment for the country fighting Russian forces, including munitions, drones, armored vehicles and air-defense systems.
The parliament’s budget committee gave the green light for the funds, which had been on hold for months amid discord in the coalition government of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
But the final adoption on Friday of a major new spending package that also eased Germany’s strict debt rules for defense outlays gave the government new room for maneuver.
President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany for the new aid in a post on X, saying it would provide “exactly what Ukraine needs most — what saves Ukrainian lives.
“This means contracts with the German defense industry will now be signed for future — a significant step toward building long-term security guarantees,” Zelensky said.
“It is also a recognition that Ukraine’s army will become even stronger after the war ends, and Germany is committed to contributing to that.”
Greens member of parliament Britta Hasselmann, whose party has strongly pushed for Ukraine aid, expressed relief the new billions were being released, “albeit late.”
She called it “a strong signal to Ukraine, a signal that is absolutely necessary for peace and security in Europe.”
Meanwhile, Russia on Saturday said it had intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones overnight in attacks on several regions that injured six people.
The 47 drones were “destroyed or intercepted” over the regions of Voronezh, Belgorod, Rostov, Volgograd and Astrakhan among others, the defence ministry said.
In Rostov a drone attack damaged several apartments, wounding two, the region’s governor Yuri Sliusar said.