Over the last few days, questions under my tweets and posts have repeatedly drawn my attention to the rumour that Germany has now followed Trump’s decision to stop supplying additional military assistance to Ukraine.
Since this rumour is apparently being spread by various not only Russian but also Ukrainian accounts and people are actually not sure whether it is true or not, I have decided to clarify the situation here.
For those who don’t want to read the whole article and just want a simple answer to that question, I can tell you that this is of course not true.
However, in contrast to many other rumours or wild allegations, at least this one has a true basis, although the fundamental point of the original statement which started this rumour has been greatly stretched to a point where it’s basically an entirely new statement.
There is a bit of truth in every rumour
The claim that Germany would no longer provide military aid to Ukraine originated in a statement made at the government press conference on the 5th of March 2025.
When asked whether, for example, further Patriot systems (fire units) from Bundeswehr stocks could be handed over to Ukraine, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said that these handovers had already taken place and that a natural limit had now been reached.
In other words, according to the Ministry of Defence, Germany can’t afford to forego any more Patriot fire units, as it also needs equipment for its own army. Not only for national defence, but also for alliance defence and to meet NATO’s capability targets.
Image: BundeswehrFurthermore, this limit, which has now been reached, applies not only to the MIM-104 Patriot air defence systems, but also to other equipment such as self-propelled artillery, main battle tanks or infantry fighting vehicles.
Although numerous contracts have already been concluded to replace equipment handed over from Bundeswehr stocks, hardly anything has been delivered so far, meaning that the Bundeswehr is more short of certain weapon systems than ever before.
Considering the increasing threat from Russia and the US government’s unwillingness to continue to engage intensively in Europe, I think it’s only logical that the German MoD doesn’t want to further reduce the army’s already very reduced stocks.
However, government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit also pointed out that the momentary situation in Ukraine must always be evaluated and that it is acceptable not to meet NATO capability targets when emergencies in Ukraine arise.
In other words, Germany could continue to supply Ukraine with a limited amount of material from Bundeswehr stocks in case of an emergency. However, this should be the last resort.
So much for the background to this rumour.
Here we go again…
Additionally, it must also be said that this is not even a new development. This was already mentioned in an BILD article in mid-October 2024, which refers to an internal document of the German Ministry of Defence.
Already back then, NEXTA for example, used the opportunity and falsely reported that Germany had stopped all deliveries of heavy military equipment to Ukraine.
Just like now, back then I also felt compelled to do a fact check, which in the end was successful. The tweet has since been deleted and re-posted with some changes.
Image: KNDSTo summarise, it can therefore be said that this is not even genuine news. It has just been officially confirmed for the first time as far as I can tell.
Does it really make a difference?
But the most important question is: How relevant is this actually? Does it really make a difference that Germany will only hand over military equipment from Bundeswehr stocks to Ukraine in extraordinary cases?
Not in my opinion, and there is a simple reason for this. The vast majority of deliveries to Ukraine are deliveries via the industry anyway.
These are either newly produced weapon systems such as IRIS-T SLM or Skynex air defense systems and reconnaissance drones such as Vector or RQ-35 Heidrun, or weapon systems that have been overhauled and refurbished for Ukraine such as the Gepard and Cheetah SPAAGs or Marder 1A3 IFVs.
Basically, almost everything that is regularly supplied to Ukraine now comes from the industry: air defence systems, main battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, logistical vehicles, drones, artillery, MRAPs, small arms, various types of ammunition and more.
This is mainly because Germany concluded long-term contracts with the industry as early as the first year of the Russian war and didn’t stop signing new ones in the years after. Contracts for which Germany received a lot of backlash on social media in the past.
However, these contracts are precisely the reason Germany can continue supplying military equipment to Ukraine every week, unlike many other countries that support Ukraine with military equipment.
Image: 16th Artillery BrigadeJust to name two examples. In the fall of 2022, together with Denmark and Norway, a contract was concluded with Slovakia for the production and delivery of 16 Zuzana 2 self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine. It was only in February 2025 that the delivery of four self-propelled artillery systems from this contract took place.
Another example would be the IRIS-T SLM air defence systems. In a €2.7 billion aid package announced in May 2023, four additional fire units were pledged. The delivery of this batch is currently halfway through and should be completed this year.
A contract for four further fire units has also already been concluded, meaning that deliveries of newly produced, modern and highly effective air defence systems are already secured until the end of 2027.
All in all, these long-term contracts, which are regularly concluded, mean that Germany currently has military aid under contract that is not expected to be delivered until 2028, possibly even 2029.
Therefore, nobody needs to worry that less military aid will now be delivered by Germany to Ukraine, let alone that nothing will come at all.
Germany will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side and, with the hopefully imminent approval of the €3 billion package, will continue to expand its military aid in the short, mid and long term.
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