Ukraine Has a Germany Problem Again. Here’s How to Fix It.
Kyiv’s Kursk operation was aimed less at the battlefield than Berlin and other allies.
Russian civilians displaced by Ukraine’s offensive collecting aid.
Photographer: Tatyana Makeyeva/AFP
Not for the first time, Ukraine is having problems with support from Berlin. It also has a France, US and even a UK problem. Taken together, they go a long way to explaining why President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made the high-risk gamble of sending troops to fight in Russia, at a time when he had barely enough to hold the line at home.
It’s easy to pick on Germany, the nation that at first offered Ukraine just helmets to help defend itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The “Zeitenwende” that Chancellor Olaf Scholz then boldly announced to transform German energy and security policies changed all that. But with this week’s Frankfurter Allgemeine report that the finance ministry plans to halve the budget for Ukraine aid next year and slash it further thereafter, Scholz’s “turning point” is looking a little more like a swerve.