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According to a Reuters report on the 17th, citing German government documents, Germany plans to halve its military support for Ukraine next year.

Screenshot of Reuters report

The report said that the draft fiscal budget for 2025 seen by Reuters showed that Germany's military aid budget for Ukraine would be cut from about 8 billion euros in 2024 to 4 billion euros (about 4.35 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025. The Group of Seven (G7) had previously agreed to lend Ukraine 50 billion U.S. dollars, and Germany hoped that Ukraine could use this money to meet most of its military needs. The report pointed out that the 50 billion loan came from the proceeds of the freezing of Russian overseas assets misappropriated by the United States and the West.

On July 17, local time, German Finance Minister Lindner said at a press conference, "Thanks to European measures and loans from the Group of Seven, Ukraine's financing is guaranteed for the foreseeable future."

The United States is also pushing for so-called "pre-payment" loans, aimed at quickly providing Ukraine with a large sum of money, and Western officials say EU leaders are in favor of the idea in part because it would reduce the likelihood that Ukraine would face a cash shortage if Trump returns to the White House.

This week, former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Trump chose Ohio Senator James David Vance as his running mate. Vance opposes U.S. military aid to Ukraine and believes that Europe will have to reduce its military dependence on the United States. Trump has also said that he would not agree to the United States protecting countries that fail to meet NATO military spending targets and would even encourage Russia to attack these countries, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of other Western officials.

Reuters mentioned that Germany has repeatedly failed to achieve the NATO target of spending 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on military spending each year. In addition, due to decades of underfunding, Germany's military inventory has shrunk, and the supply of weapons to Ukraine has further depleted its inventory. So far, Germany has provided Ukraine with three Patriot air defense missile systems, more than any other country, resulting in the number of Patriot systems for Germany's own use being reduced to nine.

The report said that although military support for Ukraine will be halved, Germany's draft budget for next year will still meet NATO's target of spending 2% of GDP on military spending in 2025, totaling 75.3 billion euros.