German chancellor pledges $1.53 billion in military aid to Ukraine
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed to send more weaponry to Kiev after visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his backers for more arms and ammunition to fight the advancing Russian troops.
Scholz pledged to supply Kiev with a fresh 1.4 billion euro ($1.53 billion) military aid package by the end of 2024.
Western military aid to Kiev will be given jointly with partner countries Belgium, Denmark and Norway and includes more air defense, tanks, combat drones and artillery. However, Berlin remains to be Kiev’s biggest supplier of weapons and ammo after Washington.
“It is a clear message to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin – playing for time will not work. We will not let up in our support for Ukraine,” Scholz said.
However, a major summit of the leaders of allied countries scheduled for later this month in Ramstein, Germany, has been canceled in a show of waning support for Kiev’s failing war against Russian troops.
Zelensky has been visiting Western allies in Europe presenting what he has pitched as a “victory plan” to end the war with Russia, while also repeating his constant demand for more aid, and also pressing to gain permission to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.
For the time being, Zelensky’s so-called “victory plan” has been shrouded in secrecy. However, a US official has previously described it as a repackaged request for more weapons and a lifting of restrictions on the use of long-range missiles.
Also, a European diplomatic source said there is nothing especially new in his plan.
Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine’s Donbas in February 2022 after several years of international negotiations to resolve the Ukraine crisis.
Since the war started, Western countries have been backing Zelensky with vast diplomatic and financial support, providing Kiev forces with huge shipments of arms and munitions despite repeated warnings by the Kremlin that pursuing such a policy would only prolong the war and add to the misery and destruction.
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