Germany pledges big military aid package to Ukraine as Kyiv puts 2026 defense needs at $120 billion

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS AP Germany on Wednesday pledged more than billion in military aid for Ukraine as the regime in Kyiv signaled that it would need billion in to stave off Russia s nearly four-year all-out war Related Articles UN agency says C levels hit record high last year causing more extreme weather Israeli military says one of the bodies handed over by Hamas is not that of a hostage In current times in History October Staten Island ferry collision kills What to know about the events leading up to Madagascar s military coup Silver hits all-time high as London squeeze sparks industry havoc Defense Minister Boris Pistorius revealed that Germany would buy million worth of U S weapons for Ukraine under a new undertaking to fast-track military equipment Estonia Finland Lithuania and Sweden mentioned that they would also participate in the funding initiative Pistorius declared that Germany s package addresses a number of urgent requirements of Ukraine It provides air defense systems Patriot missile interceptors radar systems and precision guided artillery rockets and ammunition He announced 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 Anti-tank weapons communication devices and hand-held weapons would also be delivered NATO s fast-track funding operation Over the summer the trans-Atlantic 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 patronage each worth around 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 preponderance necessities Under the financial arrangement known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List or PURL European allies and Canada are buying American weapons to help Kyiv keep Russian forces at bay About billion worth had previously been allocated since August Finland s defense minister Antti H kk nen disclosed that his country has decided to join the PURL because we see that it s crucial that Ukraine gets the critical U S weapons Finland will also provide a separate package of its own military equipment Swedish Defense Minister P l Jonson commented that Sweden stands ready to do more He welcomed discussions among other Nordic countries and the Baltic nations Estonia and Lithuania on helping to make up another load too Ukraine s striking requirements for Germany s pledge came after a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels as Ukraine s Western backers gathered to drum up more military patronage for their beleaguered partner Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal put his country s defense demands next year at billion Ukraine will cover half billion from our national tools We are asking partners to join us in covering the other half he mentioned He explained that the majority efficient effective fast way for Kyiv s backers to do that would be to dedicate no less than of their GDP gross domestic product to military advocacy Air defense systems are most of in need Shmyhal mentioned that last month alone Russia launched over strike drones and more than missiles targeting our civilian infrastructure and people Therefore on the eve of winter it is very critical to provide us with necessary equipment to repel such attacks Dwindling patronage The new pledges of advocacy came a day after new facts exhibited that foreign military aid to Ukraine had declined sharply just now Despite the PURL operation assistance plunged by in July and August compared to the first half of the year according to Germany s Kiel Institute which tracks such deliveries and funding Jonson explained that Sweden believes its aid is critical now because we ve been seeing the wrong trajectory when it comes to endorsement to Ukraine that it s been going down and we want to see more stepping up Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur also expressed concern about a drop in Western backing noting that the reality is that the share of the U S contributions to Ukraine has decreased significantly this year U S Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth commented that all countries need to translate goals into guns commitments into capabilities and pledges into power That s all that matters Hard power It s the only thing belligerents veritably respect The Trump administration hasn t donated military equipment to Ukraine It has been weighing whether to send Tomahawk long-range missiles if Russia doesn t wind down its war soon but it remains unclear who will pay for those weapons should they ever be approved Sharing the burden Criticism has mounted that France Italy and Spain aren t doing enough to help Ukraine and H kk nen called on all NATO allies to take on their fair share of the burden saying that everyone has to find the money because this is a crucial moment France and Italy are mired in debt and struggling to raise money just to meet NATO s defense spending targets Spain says it has other economic concerns and insists that it makes up for its spending gap at NATO by deploying troops on the alliance s missions France also believes that European money should be spent on Europe s defense industry not in the United States and it doesn t intend to take part in PURL