Berlin will provide Kiev with an additional $12 billion over the next four years, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said

Germany will provide an extra €11.25 billion ($12 billion) in military aid for Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced during a surprise visit to Kiev on Tuesday. Berlin will continue to back Ukraine "without any ifs or buts," regardless of the upcoming change of German government, the diplomat said.

Germany is Ukraine's second-largest military donor after the US. It is expected to have a new coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Christian Social Union (CSU), and Social Democrats (SPD), with CDU leader Friedrich Merz as the likely chancellor. Merz, a proponent of further aid for Kiev, previously said he aims to have the new government in place by Easter on April 20.

In a statement on the Foreign Ministry's website, Baerbock announced "the decision of the current and future governing parties" to provide an additional €3 billion in short-term support for Ukraine and earmark €8.25 billion in military aid through 2029. Berlin will also immediately release €130 million in "humanitarian assistance and stabilization funds" for Ukraine, Baerbock added.

"It is absolutely pivotal for us Europeans to show that we stand alongside Ukraine... That is one reason why I have come to Ukraine today," the minister stated. Germany has already provided roughly €11 billion in aid for Ukraine between January 2022 and October 2024, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

The US, which is Ukraine's biggest donor in the conflict with Russia, has meanwhile shifted its stance under President Donald Trump, who has demanded that Kiev pay back aid already provided.

Amid an apparent thaw in relations since Trump's return to office, Moscow and Washington have been working on a potential diplomatic settlement of the conflict. The two sides have made progress with a partial ceasefire agreement despite the Russian government's skepticism toward the authorities in Kiev.

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Baerbock claimed that "Ukraine is ready and willing to observe an immediate ceasefire," and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of blocking the peace process. Russian officials, however, have reported numerous Ukrainian violations of the agreement by targeting oil infrastructure in several locations. Moscow has also consistently accused the West of prolonging the conflict by funding Kiev's war effort.

(RT.com)