BERLIN, Nov 12, 2023 (BSS/TASS) - The German government intends to increase military aid to Ukraine from 4 billion to 8 billion euros next year, the Bild newspaper reported, citing sources in the country's Defense Ministry.

According to the sources, the German Finance Ministry had initially earmarked 4 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine in the 2024 state budget, but all of it has already been reserved for current projects, and the Defense Ministry has only 120 million euros left for new projects. The ministry requested an additional 5 billion euros. This week, the government decided to allocate another 4 billion euros. The Bundestag's budget committee will consider the changes next week, the newspaper said.

Bild pointed out that the Defense Ministry also has another 2 billion euros that can be used for long-term defense contracts.

Earlier this month, the German government announced the delivery of another 25 Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine, as previously promised. The new batch of weapons delivered to Kiev also included reconnaissance drones and radars. The total amount of German aid to Ukraine - humanitarian, financial and military - over the past year and a half has amounted to some 24 billion euros.