Germany pledges aid for Ukraine as NATO defense chiefs gather

Germany on Wednesday pledged more than $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine, as the government in Kyiv signaled that it would need $120 billion in 2026 to stave off Russia’s nearly four-year all-out war.

- By Lorne Cook

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany would buy $500 million worth of U.S. weapons for Ukraine under a new program to fast-track military equipment. Estonia, Finland, Lithuania and Sweden said that they would also participate in the funding initiative.

Pistorius said that Germany’s “package addresses anumber of urgent requirements of Ukraine. It provides air defense systems, Patriot [missile] interceptors, radar systems and precision guided artillery, rockets and ammunition.”

He said that Germany would separately provide “another two Iris-T air defense systems, including a large number of guided missiles, as well as shoulder-fired air defense missiles.” Antitank weapons, communication devices and handheld weapons would also be delivered.

NATO’s fast-track funding program

Over the summer, the transatlantic alliance started to coordinate regular deliveries of large weapons packages to Ukraine to help fend off Russia’s war. The aim was to send at least one load a month of targeted and predictable military support, each worth around $500 million.

Spare weapons stocks in European arsenals have all but dried up, and only the United States has a sufficient store of ready weapons that Ukraine most needs.