Reports of Germany's reduced military aid to Ukraine is election maneuvering - diplomat Veselovskyi

He shared his opinions on Espreso TV.

“We will receive aid from Germany, but not in the same way as we received it before. I'm going to make a guess. A couple of weeks ago, there was a short report, which then disappeared, that Olaf Scholz was going to run again for chancellor for the next term. And now there is talk that Ukraine will receive its 4 billion euros in military aid, which was originally envisaged. However, there will obviously be no additional amounts, because there are no requests, no clarity, no understanding, and the Ministry of Finance does not see some things,” commented Andriy Veselovskyi.

In his opinion, Scholz decided to tell the Germans in the process of preparing for his re-election that he cares about them first, and then about Ukraine, China, and so on.

“This is the reason for this formal package of 4 billion euros, as well as the refusal to give anything more. In terms of time, these events will be as follows: first, Scholz is re-elected, and then there will be corrections. It seems to me that in the case of both Scholz's re-election and non-re-election, there will be corrections, because there is no doubt in German politics now that if Ukraine fails to keep Russia at bay, the Baltic states, Poland, and Germany will be next. Since Germany is the backbone of a united Europe, it will bear the brunt of the impact. So, there is an opinion that these are political games that are necessary to pass a certain electoral round, and then the situation will improve,” the diplomat said.

Veselovskyi added that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is not the kind of person who would give up on achieving his goals. Pistorius is widely considered a likely contender for the post of chancellor.

Background

Earlier, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAS) wrote that Germany would limit aid to Ukraine in the near future.

According to the outlet, on August 5, Finance Minister Christian Lindner allegedly informed Defense Minister Borys Pistorius that Ukraine would be allocated only the aid that had already been approved, and that all other applications would not be approved.

It should be noted that in July, Reuters also reported that Germany plans to halve military aid to Ukraine in 2025. The outlet reported that the draft budget provides for €4 billion instead of €8 billion in 2024.

On August 17, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said that information about Germany's alleged suspension of military aid to Ukraine was incorrect and manipulative.