Germany provides EUR 170M in emergency aid to Ukraine – Merz

Germany will not reduce its support for Ukraine; it is increasing military assistance and immediately providing €170 million in winter aid, aiming to show, among other things, to Putin that he will not succeed in Ukraine.

This was announced by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday during a speech in the Bundestag amid debates over the 2026 budget, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

“Germany will continue to support Ukraine at a very high level in the 2026 federal budget. In light of recent events, we have increased this amount by another €3 billion, bringing the total to €11.5 billion. And we are immediately providing an additional €170 million for infrastructure to mitigate the impact of Russian terrorism on Ukraine’s winter supplies,” Merz said.

He assured that Germany would not stop supporting Ukraine.

“We will support the Ukrainian people as long as necessary. And we want to make frozen Russian assets available specifically for this purpose. Putin must realize that he has no chance of winning this war at the expense of Europeans and the European peaceful order,” the Chancellor emphasized.

Merz welcomed U.S. efforts to end the war but stressed that Ukraine and Europe do not want peace through capitulation and will not accept negotiations behind their backs.

“An agreement made between major powers without Ukraine’s consent and without Europe’s consent cannot form the basis for true, sustainable peace in Ukraine… At this decisive moment — for Ukraine, for Europe, and for us together with the United States — I also want to say clearly: decisions on European affairs can only be made with Europe’s consent. Europe is not a toy in someone else’s hands, but a sovereign actor defending its own interests and values,” the head of German government stated.

He also reiterated that the war could end tomorrow if Russia stopped its illegal aggression under international law and withdrew its troops from foreign territory.

“There is only one aggressor in this conflict. Naming it is a prerequisite for the internal compass needed to resolve this conflict… And to make genuine negotiations possible at all, Putin needs to be shown the futility of his military adventure,” Merz stressed.

As reported by Ukrinform, the German government will also provide NEC Ukrenergo with additional funding of €32 million through the KfW Reconstruction Credit Institution for energy sector recovery.