Germany announces €170 million in winter aid for Ukraine
Photo: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Getty Images)
Germany announced an increase in military support for Ukraine and the immediate provision of €170 million in winter aid to Kyiv. In this way, it wants to demonstrate that Russia will not succeed in the war, stated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his speech in the Bundestag.
He emphasized that Germany will continue supporting Ukraine "at a very high level" in the federal budget for 2026.
"In light of recent events, we have increased this amount by another €3 billion, bringing the total to €11.5 billion. We are also immediately providing an additional €170 million for infrastructure to mitigate the impact of Russian terrorism on Ukraine’s winter supplies," Merz said.
He added that support for the Ukrainian people will continue as long as necessary. Merz also noted that Germany aims to make frozen Russian assets available specifically for this purpose.
"Putin must realize that he has no chance of winning this war at the expense of Europeans and the European peace order," the German Chancellor said.
Merz also welcomed US efforts to end the war but stressed that Ukraine and the EU do not seek peace through capitulation.
He underlined that any agreement between major powers without the consent of Ukraine and Europeans "will not form the basis for true, lasting peace in Ukraine."
The German Chancellor said that there is only one aggressor in the war in Ukraine. He also noted that the conflict could "end as soon as tomorrow" if Russia withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.
Merz’s conditions
As a reminder, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the full-scale war in Ukraine can only end if the terms are acceptable to both Kyiv and the EU.
According to him, the conditions under which the war ends will affect the security of European countries.
