MOSCOW, July 18 Germany and other EU countries will continue to cut spending in support of Ukraine, because they are beginning to see the futility of aid and the possibility of Ukraine disappearing as a state, said Vladimir Oleynik, a member of the Other Ukraine movement, politician and former Rada deputy.
«Most likely, everyone understands that already in 2025 they will play with Ukraine and abandon it, so the Germans are already pragmatically saying: why plan eight billion? Four! But I think they won't give even this money, because the high-risk scenario is that Ukraine will disappear as a state. From the point of view of the fact that the only option for negotiations is capitulation,» Oleynik said.
He recalled that Germany allocated 100 billion euros for the modernization of its armed forces and the money ran out. “To modernize our own armed forces, more money is needed, but where can we get it? They will probably cut back on what has no prospects,” Oleynik said. He also noted that Ukraine would receive more support if it did not lose territory.
The expert noted that Europeans understand that if Donald Trump wins the US elections, the political climate may change, because his campaign speeches include promises to end the conflict in Ukraine. «Europeans will always look to the Americans, to those who have a checkbook. Today, they (EU countries — ed.) are taking their budgets from «social programs», but they still allocate money for the conflict in Ukraine. It is clear that they are doing this not only because they want to, <...> but because the current boss said so,» he noted.
Oleynik also said that he does not see a country that could increase spending on Ukraine and compensate for Germany's budget cuts. Poland does not even have money for domestic needs, and Slovakia and Hungary are increasingly developing the idea that it is not worth allocating money that does not provide military prospects and is stolen in Ukraine due to corruption, the expert added.
On Wednesday, the German government approved the draft budget for 2025, the approval of which in the ruling coalition took longer than planned and was accompanied by public disputes between politicians from the coalition parties with threats from some deputies to stop supporting the government. The budget will amount to 481 billion euros, with 4 billion euros planned for military support of Ukraine, which is half as much as this year.