German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has finalized a planned shipment of additional weaponry and ammunition worth more than 500 million euros ($499 million) to Ukraine, according to government officials familiar with the plans.
The German government will provide more ammunition, anti-drone devices and armored recovery vehicles to Ukraine in the coming weeks as part of a fresh package announced by the German leader on Tuesday. Scholz spoke to a conference in Kyiv along with other world leaders via video link.
“We will continue to supply weapons,” Scholz told the conference from Toronto, during a three-day trip to Canada. “We have put on track a new package including highly modern air defense systems, rocket launchers, tons of ammunition, anti-drone devices and armored recovery vehicles.”
Germany has so far committed 700 million euros worth of weapons and equipment for Ukraine, with another 500 million euros earmarked to finance military equipment, according to a tally by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
In June, Scholz announced that Germany will supply Ukraine with a unit of the modern guided-missiles system IRIS-T. Scholz and his government have come under mounting pressure from NATO allies for acting too slowly in dispatching military aid to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s invasion.
In addition to the first IRIS-T unit, Germany will now send three additional units of the highly effective weapon system over the next year, according to one of the officials. The additional equipment has yet to be assembled -- so new that the Germany military doesn’t yet have it in its own arsenal, the official said.
