Berlin’s aid to Kiev could reach €11.5 billion ($13.2 billion) next year, according to the agency’s sources

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz shaking hands with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. © Getty Images / Ukrainian Presidency

Germany is set to significantly increase its funding for Ukraine in 2026, Reuters has reported, citing government sources.

Berlin is Kiev’s largest EU backer, and has already provided it with around €40 billion ($46 billion) since the escalation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in February 2022.

According to Reuters, Berlin is considering an additional €3 billion ($3.5 billion) increase in 2026, meaning the overall amount of German aid could reach €11.5 billion ($13.2 billion) next year.

The German authorities had allocated €8.5 billion ($9.8 billion) for Ukraine in its budget for next year, although sources told Reuters on Tuesday that the sum will likely balloon by more than a third due to additional funds from the finance and defense ministries. Similar figures were reported by the Handelsblatt newspaper.

The extra money will cover artillery, drones, armored vehicles, and the replacement of two US-made Patriot air-defense systems, according to the agency’s sources.

 

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“We will continue our support for as long as necessary,” one source told Reuters. 

The Ukrainian allocation ha been approved despite German Chancellor Frederich Merz acknowledging in August that the German economy is suffering a “structural crisis” with large sectors “no longer truly competitive.” 

The country’s economy saw two years of annual contraction in 2023 and 2024, partly due to the loss of cheap Russian energy as a result of EU sanctions on Moscow.

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky last week thanked Merz for providing Kiev with an unspecified number of Patriot systems, saying that earlier agreements had been implemented.

In late October, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the German authorities of pursuing policies reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s objectives of dominating Europe and inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow.

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Speaking about Merz’s plans to make Germany the strongest army in Europe, Lavrov said “it is not just militarization – there are clear signs of re-nazification.”

Moscow has repeatedly said Western military aid to Zelensky’s government will not prevent it from achieving its goals in the Ukraine conflict, but only prolongs the fighting and increases the risk of a direct clash between Russia and NATO.