According to Reuters local time on April 4, German Defense Minister Pistorius said that the German army cannot completely fill the existing gap before 1 and will no longer provide Ukraine with the existing weapons and equipment of the Bundeswehr.
Infographic: German Defense Minister Pistorius.
"We all know that the existing gap cannot be completely filled by 2030... It takes years. Everyone knows that. Pistorius said in an interview, "Frankly, like other countries, we have limited inventory. As Minister of Defense, I cannot give everything away. ”
Reuters quoted expert analysis as saying that after the end of the Cold War, the Bundeswehr has been overwhelmed by decades of underinvestment. Now, because most of the weapons and ammunition supplied to Ukraine remain unreplenished, the situation of the Bundeswehr is even worse than a year ago.
Pistorius, who was appointed defense minister in early 2023, said his top priority would be to increase Germany's defense budget from the current 1.5% of GDP to 2% of GDP proposed by NATO.
As previously reported, the German Bundestag's defense commissioner Hogel pointed out in his annual report on March 3 that Germany is now facing a more serious shortage of weapons and equipment than before the Ukraine crisis.
Hogel believes that by supplying Ukraine with howitzer shells, rocket launchers and tanks, Germany has "torn a big hole in its own weapons stockpile."
Germany has provided around $2023.2 billion in military aid to Ukraine, according to a ranking of countries and organizations that provided military assistance to Ukraine from January 2022 to January 1, published by the Kiel Institute for World Economy in February 2023.