Scholz has blocked military aid to Ukraine amounting to 3 billion euros, according to Der Spiegel.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has blocked the provision of military aid to Ukraine amounting to €3 billion, which was being advocated by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Source. This information comes from Der Spiegel, citing informed sources.

Baerbock and Pistorius began working on a new tranche after the collapse of the ruling coalition in November 2024, according to sources.

The ministers hoped to agree on supplying Kyiv with the necessary weapons before the federal elections in Germany, scheduled for February 23.

The aid package prepared by the German Ministry of Defense included three IRIS-T air defense systems, shells and missiles for the Patriot missile system, 10 wheeled howitzers, and artillery ammunition.

Funding for this aid was planned to be conducted as unplanned expenditures through the current parliament's budget committee. In the past, Berlin has already taken such steps to provide assistance to Ukraine.

However, in their address to the budget committee, the ministers noted that Kyiv's positions on the battlefield had deteriorated in recent months and pointed to unclear prospects for future support from the United States following Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Nevertheless, Scholz's office has made it clear that he does not support this initiative. According to Spiegel, the chancellor "does not want to confront the future federal government with a fait accompli" and "does not see the need for urgent action."

The office believes that this year Germany will allocate sufficient funds to support Ukraine – around €4 billion. Additionally, Kyiv will begin receiving loans from profits generated by frozen Russian assets – $50 billion from the U.S. and EU.

According to representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Scholz likely does not want to announce further arms supplies to Ukraine amid the election campaign, as he believes it could alienate voters from his party.

According to a December poll, 31% of German voters are ready to vote for the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU). There is a possibility that under such circumstances, the CDU/CSU could win, and the party leader Friedrich Merz, who previously promised to supply Ukraine with long-range TAURUS missiles, could become chancellor.