In response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, Germany will be increasing its spending on armed forces and their weapons. They are spending 100 billion Euros to fund this and its defense spending will increase to be over 2% of its GDP. This spending sparks a large change to a policy that has been around since World War II, but it is seen as necessary in order to defend against attacks and prepare themselves for anything that will come. They will be sending supplies directly to Ukraine after lifting restrictions that did not allow for these weapons to be sent directly into conflict zones. They will be sending1000 (anti-tank) weapons and 500 missiles to Ukraine to help them out, which is surprising considering they were very recently not willing to help Ukraine. When troops began building around Ukraine and there was threat of invasion, Germany was not willing to help and did not offer much because they did not take the threat seriously. After the Invasion, they have now changed their views and are helping by sending resources and weapons.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/27/scholz-germany-pledges-defense-spending-increase-in-shift-in-strategy.html
It is interesting to see how countries are choosing which side to fund and support. The choices countries are making is significant as many are putting sanctions and siding with Ukraine. Many European countries have also seen their oil and natural gas prices increase leading up to Russia's invasion. It will be interesting to see how countries side and the effect that the war has on Russia's economy.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be interesting to see what other European countries are going to do since Germany has decided to help the Ukraine. I think most countries won't actively do anything anytime soon, which is why Germany surprised me. Therefore, I am curious to see how Germany's decision will play out.
ReplyDeleteThis news is an interesting turn of events because Putin had openly and quite fearlessly threatened all countries not to meddle in the Russian-Ukraine crises otherwise Russia will respond immediately and create crisis no one has witnessed in history before. After such a strong threat, seeing Germany advancing towards aiding Ukraine is interesting. Germany's act may also enable other countries to send weapons to Ukraine. Let's see what happens
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