Germany can do more in supporting Ukraine militarily - Vice Chancellor

Germany has been doing a lot to support Ukraine in absolute numbers, but the contribution of some countries is greater in terms of its share to the economy.

This was stated by Vice-Chancellor, Minister of Economy of Germany, Robert Habeck, who spoke in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Ukrinform saw.

"Supporting Ukraine costs money, and Germany does less than some others. Currently, we spend 1.1 percent of our economic power on Ukraine. Others do more, for example Estonia – at the level of 4.1 percent," said Habeck.

At the same time, he noted that politicians have recently realized that it is impossible to abdicate responsibility due to alleged neutrality if a country in Europe is invaded. According to him, most people in Germany consider it a right thing to support Ukrainians in their struggle.

Regarding the provision of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Habeck noted that the Security Council will ultimately make a decision regarding these weapons systems, and it must be unanimous. If this does not happen, Germany will not be able to donate the missiles, he emphasized.

The politician noted that he understands and considers Chancellor Olaf Scholz's "hesitation" on the issue to be correct, although he himself "sometimes comes to different conclusions." But the differences over Taurus should not overshadow the fact that the German government is in accord on many other issues, he added.

"We should not suspect each other of threatening peace. The one who endangers peace is Putin," the vice chancellor said.

According to the official, Putin's goal is not only to occupy Ukraine in order to restore the Russian empire, but also to destabilize liberal democracies outside of Ukraine.

"If Putin isn’t stopped, he will not stop," Habeck is convinced.

As reported, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz said Germany had allocated or planned to donate nearly EUR 28 billion for military support to Ukraine.