German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck has proposed reviewing the provision of EUR 3 billion in arms to Ukraine, and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has proposed immediately unblocking this aid. This is a military support package that was stopped in December.
This is reported by the Spiegel and Tagesschau portals.
After yesterday's dispute between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Habeck from the Green Party called on Germany and Europe to take immediate action.
"Germany and Europe support Ukraine. We will not abandon them. One thing is clear: we all, especially Ukrainians, want peace. How can we assume otherwise about President Zelenskyy?" he told Spiegel magazine.
Continuing, Habeck stressed that in order to provide the necessary support to Ukraine, "we must do everything possible in the short term."
Spiegel recalled that there was a dispute in the German government regarding the further package of arms supplies to Ukraine worth EUR 3 billion. Shortly before Christmas, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD party stopped these plans. According to Habeck, these EUR 3 billion should be allocated primarily so that Ukraine could order, among other things, air defense equipment.
"It (air defense, - Ed.) must be able to protect human lives. There should be no more delays. The new SPD leadership must change its position on this issue," the Vice-Chancellor said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who heads the Green party with Habeck, also came up with the same idea.
"Our horror is greater than ever. It is a despicable time when we must defend the rules-based international order and the rule of law more than ever against the power of the strongest. The enemy is in the Kremlin, not in Kyiv or Brussels," she said, adding that it was time to act quickly and unblock the EUR 3 billion.
In addition, Habeck called for further study into whether and how frozen russian assets could help counter russian dictator vladimir putin. He added that the events of recent weeks should have made the following point about European security clear to everyone.
"Europe must do more for its security. To achieve this, it is necessary to gather all its determination and strength. This is not a game," Habeck said.
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