Germany has promised $2.3 billion (€2 billion) in fresh military assistance to help counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now well into a fourth year. Germany’s Pledge was provided by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius at a Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, along with U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth and Ukranian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal.
The group of supplies will include advanced air defence systems, including Patriot interceptors and precision guided artillery, radar systems, and ammunition. Germany is also providing two additional IRIS-T air defence systems, with a large supply of guided mobile air defence missiles, which will be helpful but only addresses the most urgent battlefield needs.
In a bid to convince its foreign partners to provide at least some of the $120 billion defence budget projected to be required in 2026, Shmyhal said that air defence was ‘the priority.’ He pointed out that Russia has launched over 5,600 drones and 180 missiles just in September of this year.
The new German promise comes on the heels of a 43% drop in global military assistance to Ukraine over July and August, according to the Kiel Institute. As part of the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) situation, European allies and Canada are working towards pooling finances to buy weapons from the U.S. and supply these to Ukraine.
As Germany increases military assistance to Ukraine, President Donald Trump has not yet made available new military equipment from the U.S., although the U.S. has said that they are still considering sending Tomahawk missiles. Western officials maintain that steady arms deliveries is critical to resisting a Russian winter offensive, which they have showcased post the ‘counter-offensive’ period.
