Chancellor Scholz Ensures Germany Continues To Provide Military Aid To Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (Twitter/@Bundeksizler)

JAKARTA - Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday confirmed Germany would not relax its military aid to Ukraine, trying to eliminate concerns amid cuts in its domestic budget and media reports about freezing Germany's new military aid.

" Germany's support for Ukraine will not stop. We have made provisions, reached an agreement (restriction) and secured timely funding so that Ukraine can continue to depend fully on us in the future," Chancellor Scholz said.

Europe's defense stock declined in mid-August, after the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sontagszeitung (FAS) newspaper said Germany's Ministry of Finance would not approve additional applications for Ukraine's military aid due to budget constraints.

A spokesman for the German government later called the report "not true", reaffirming Berlin's support for Ukraine "as long as necessary".

Scholz spoke at a military base near the northern city of Todendorf, where Germany's first IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defense system was declared operational.

Even before Luftwaffe received its first unitary shipment, Germany funded several IRIS-T SLM systems for Ukraine, where the system was primarily used to keep Kyiv from Russian missile attacks, making it one of the most coveted Western weapons donations.

So far, Germany has supplied four of the total 12 IRIS-T SLM units promised to Kyiv, with two more systems to be delivered by the end of the year.

"In Ukraine, the IRIS-T has shot down more than 250 missiles, drones, and cruise missiles so far and saved many lives, with an impressive success rate of 95 percent or even more," Chancellor Scholz said.

With a range of about 40 km (25 miles) and a 360-degree view, the German weapons maker Diehl's system has been used to shoot down cruise missiles - sent by Russia to attack power plants - as well as aircraft, including Iranian-made Shahed drones.