Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on Oct. 11, 2024. (Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg)
Germany and three European allies will supply Ukraine with additional military aid worth about $1.5 billion by the end of the year, including air-defense systems, battle tanks and howitzers, according to Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Speaking alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday in Berlin, Scholz pledged that Germany will remain Ukraine’s most generous military backer in Europe, with the focus remaining on strengthening the nation’s air defenses against Russian attack.
The latest package of materiel, a joint effort with Belgium, Denmark and Norway, will also include Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, battle drones, radar equipment and artillery shells, Scholz said.
“All this is showing two things,” Scholz told reporters. “Firstly: Ukraine can rely on us. Secondly, it is a clear message to Putin: Playing for time will not work. We will not let up in our support for Ukraine.”
Zelenskyy, whose trip to Berlin came after visits this week to London, Paris and Rome, reiterated that he plans to unveil the details of a new “victory plan” that seeks to frame Kyiv’s vision for an end to Russia’s war.
The president has sought to boost global support for Ukraine’s call for Russia to withdraw from its territory, though efforts on this peace “formula” have stumbled, especially as nations from the so-called Global South demand that any process involve Moscow at the negotiating table.
Ukraine aims to hold a summit by the end of the year to advance the process after world leaders gathered in June in Switzerland.
“We demand a just peace for Ukraine and we’ll work on that,” Zelenskyy said. “I’ll present the victory plan, which is a bridge to a new peace summit. It is not a replacement of the peace formula — it is an instrument to make Ukraine’s position stronger.”
Scholz also reinforced a Group of Seven pledge to raise $50 billion in loans for Ukraine from frozen Russian central bank assets.
That process has become snagged as allies haggle over the final details and as the U.S. seeks assurances the European Union’s contribution won’t be blocked by a Hungarian veto.
“You can rely on that,” Scholz told Zelenskyy in Berlin.
With assistance from Olesia Safronova and Daryna Krasnolutska.
