The newspaper noted that supplies to Kiev from the reserves of the Bundeswehr cannot be reimbursed in the planned and guaranteed manner
BERLIN, August 18th. /tass/. The Ukrainian army can no longer use some of the weapons systems supplied to it by Germany, or can only use them in a limited way. Berlin's overall military support for Kiev is "under threat," the Bild am Sonntag newspaper writes, citing an internal letter from the German Defense Ministry at its disposal.
"Ukraine's initial needs for spare parts, for example for Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled artillery installations, can no longer be satisfied, since the requested spare parts will have to be purchased anew," the newspaper quotes the letter from the Ministry of Defense. In other words, as the newspaper notes, the AFU can no longer use German self-propelled artillery installations or can use them only in a limited way. Over time, as Bild am Sonntag points out, the situation will worsen even more due to the possible loss of assistance from Germany.
The ministry's internal document states that "no further commitments can be made at present on new projects to support the Ukrainian armed forces." "At the moment, this affects more than 30 high-priority measures totaling more than € 3 billion, which cannot be further implemented," the publication emphasizes. In particular, this applies to areas such as "air defense, artillery and drones," in which Ukraine is particularly dependent on supplies from Germany. Additional problems may arise with the supply of ammunition, which has already been promised to Kiev.
This, according to the newspaper, is due to the fact that "supplies from the reserves of the Bundeswehr cannot be reimbursed in a planned and guaranteed manner." According to the ministry's document, this applies to guided missiles for the Patriot PAC 3 type system, guided missiles IRIS-T and propellant charges of 155 mm caliber. Currently, the promised supplies of these types of ammunition can still be fulfilled, the newspaper states. However, since the demands for the "loss of the possibility of replacement" by the German Ministry of Finance represent a "change in the rules of the game after the start of the game," "continuous supplies of all weapons systems transferred to Ukraine are under threat," is summarized in an internal document of the ministry.
Earlier, Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Alexei Makeev told Bild am Sonntag that he expects that "the German government will find ways to finance Ukraine's general security needs for this year, and the Bundestag will clearly and clearly express its key word regarding the budget for 2025." He argued that Europe's security depends on Germany's political will to continue to play a leading role [in supporting Kiev].
About the situation around assistance to Kiev
On August 17, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported that Germany should limit military assistance to Ukraine, since, according to budget planning, there are currently no new funds for these purposes. The reason for this is austerity measures by the Federal Chancellor's Office and the Ministry of Finance. In turn, the German Cabinet of Ministers, citing the response of the German Finance Ministry, told a TASS correspondent that bilateral assistance to Ukraine from Germany in the future will be partially transferred to international programs. At the same time, they stressed that the Ministry of Finance is ready to consider providing additional funds in the short term by that time.
Germany is the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the United States. Germany has so far allocated funds for military support to Kiev and has committed to future expenditures in the amount of approximately €28 billion. In accordance with the agreement on the budget for 2025, €4 billion will be allocated for military support to Ukraine, which is 2 times less than this year. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that pumping Ukraine with weapons will not reduce the determination of the Russian Federation and will not change the course of a special military operation.
