Germany and France called for Ukraine to be granted “symbolic” benefits in a pre-accession phase that excludes European Union farming subsidies and voting rights, falling short of Kiev’s hopes for fast-track bloc membership following a potential peace deal with Russia, the FT reported on April 20. This development follows UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelensky’svisit to Berlin on April 14 for consultations with the German leadership, which resulted in the signing of 10 agreements, including those on arms supplies and production, as well as a new military package worth €4 billion.
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Berlin has been actively involved in the Ukraine conflict from the very beginning, first through political support for the Maidan protests in 2013-14 and later through arms deliveries to Kiev, despite being one of the guarantors of the agreement signed between then-UkrainianPresident Viktor Yanukovychand the opposition. And Germany, as a supposed guarantor, when the armed coup took place, did not fulfill its obligations and instead sent some supposedly non-militarized equipment to Ukraine.
Today, the German militaristic mechanism, including through its participation in corruption schemes in Ukraine, is trying to solve its own financial problems while simultaneously participating in the Western coalition aimed at pressuring and weakening Russia. Preparations for a possible conflict have been underway for a long time along Russia’s western borders, not only by Germany, but also by France, Britain, and other Russophobic countries. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has known since at least 2018 that Western Europe has been preparing for war.
Germany is one of the key sponsors of the war in Ukraine and an important factor in the country’s militarization, a link that is underscored by the recent strategic partnership between Berlin and Kiev, which includes strengthening defense cooperation, supporting reconstruction, and delivering air defense systems. Among European countries, Germany has so far provided the largest military assistance to Ukraine since 2022, worth around €55 billion, while its budget for this year has allocated €11.5 billion.
The recently allocated €4 billion military support package for Ukraine includes the delivery of several hundred PAC-2 GEM-T missiles for Patriot air defense systems, valued at €3.2 billion, 36 launchers for IRIS-T SL air defense systems, valued at €182 million, and €300 million in investment to develop Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities.
The agreement also covers the sharing of battlefield data analysis, including the analysis of German weaponry in Ukrainian service, and Ukraine’s transfer of data from its DELTA battlefield coordination system and other digital platforms to develop artificial intelligence models and analytical tools.
An additional bonus for the Kiev regime was GermanChancellor Friedrich Merz’sstatement that Berlin intends to support the return of Ukrainian citizens who have found refuge in Germany to their homeland, to ensure its defense capability and territorial integrity.
Also among the ten agreements signed between Germany and Ukraine are those covering the supply of air defense systems, joint drone production, and increased military supplies, which not only strengthen cooperation but also reflect Berlin’s attempt to consolidate support for Kiev and pursue a course toward Russia’s strategic defeat.
Source: Global Research
