Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul struggles to “explain” massive support for Ukraine to German taxpayers
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has criticized Kiev for failing to spend enough of its Western-provided procurement money on German weapons, arguing that Berlin’s massive support for Ukraine should at least benefit its defense industry.
Germany is one of Ukraine’s largest bilateral supporters, having provided or earmarked more than €43 billion ($50 billion) in “civilian” assistance and around €58 billion in military aid since the conflict escalated in 2022.
“We are now the strongest supporter of Ukraine in terms of financial and military support. And naturally, the German defense industry must benefit from this,” Wadephul told Bild in an interview published on Tuesday.
The minister said he had raised the issue directly with Vladimir Zelensky during his visit to Kiev last month.
“We stand by you, we support you. But I also have to explain this to German taxpayers, and the very least you can do is to involve the German defense industry in all procurement measures,” Wadephul recalled telling the Ukrainian leader.
“At the moment, we are not entirely satisfied with the level of orders in Germany,” he added, saying Kiev had been asked to review its purchases and ensure that the situation “gets better.”
Germany’s demands that the money spent on Kiev flow back to its own arms makers mirror US President Donald Trump’s approach to Ukraine aid. Since returning to the White House, Trump has largely shifted the financial burden of supplying American weapons to European NATO members and Canada. Under the PURL mechanism, the bloc’s members now pay Washington for US-made arms that are then delivered to Kiev.
Moscow has repeatedly criticized the unprecedented military buildup by Germany and the wider EU under the pretext of alleged Russian threat. President Vladimir Putin said in June that Western governments were no longer concealing their intentions and were “openly saying that they are preparing for war with us.”
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that Germany and the rest of Europe under their current leadership are “transforming into a Fourth Reich” and seeking to fight Russia “to the last Ukrainian.”
Berlin has simultaneously stepped up pressure on Ukrainian men of military age living in Germany to return home “without coercion.” Wadephul backed calls by Bavarian leader Markus Söder and suggested that German authorities could provide Kiev with information identifying Ukrainians receiving welfare benefits or holding registered residency status so they could be “contacted” for mobilization. Germany has separately backed stripping newly arriving draft-age Ukrainian men of the automatic temporary-protection privileges granted to refugees.
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