By Christian Kraemer
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany plans to increase its financial aid to Ukraine by about 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) next year, a spokesperson for the finance ministry said on Tuesday.
Germany is Europe’s largest contributor of military aid to Ukraine, having provided around 40 billion euros since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. In its 2026 budget, Germany had allocated 8.5 billion euros to Ukraine.
“We will continue our support for as long as necessary to defend against Russia’s war of aggression,” the ministry spokesperson said.
Germany’s finance and defence ministers will add an extra 3 billion euros for Ukraine to final 2026 budget adjustments, said the spokesperson, confirming a report first published in business daily Handelsblatt.
This will cover artillery, drones, armoured vehicles, and the replacement of two Patriot air-defence systems, he added.
A government source told Reuters that Chancellor Friedrich Merz supported the plans which were expected to be agreed.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Christian Kraemer, Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Friederike Heine, Matthias Williams, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Conor Humphries)
