Germany says it has overtaken US as Ukraine's biggest military backer

Germany has become Ukraine's biggest supplier of military aid and is now sending more weapons than the United States, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday.

Germany is "now the largest supporter" of Ukraine, Pistorius said in parliament, noting a total of some €9 billion ($10.5 billion) have been allocated for this purpose in the budget.

Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, European allies have supplied massive amounts of military aid, but the United States was by far the largest backer.

But Washington has dramatically changed course since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, vowing to put "America First." He even temporarily suspended military deliveries and intelligence sharing to Kiev following an unprecedented public row with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Pistorius noted that the US has started supplying Ukraine with weapons via the Prioritized Ukraine Requirement List (PURL) initiative coordinated by NATO. While those weapons are procured by the US, they are funded by other allies.

The German minister stressed the greatest challenge in supporting Ukraine in its defence against the Russian attacks was to strengthen the country's air defence and its industry, "as well as making sure everyone is on board when it comes to backing Ukraine."