Ukraine war briefing: Germany to halve military aid to Kyiv, draft budget reportedly shows

 Germany plans to halve its military aid to Ukraine in 2025, to €4bn, despite concerns over continued US support, according to a draft budget seen by Reuters. Instead the German government hopes Ukraine will be able to meet the bulk of its military needs with $50bn in loans from proceeds of frozen Russian assets approved by the G7, and that funds earmarked for armaments will not be fully used. “Ukraine’s financing is secured for the foreseeable future thanks to European instruments and the G7 loans,” the German finance minister, Christian Lindner, said on Wednesday. Germany has faced criticism for repeatedly missing a Nato target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence, but aims to comply by 2025.