Germany has been one of Ukraine’s main backers since Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion in February last year, supplying 22 billion euros in humanitarian, financial and military aid BERLIN: Germany’s defense minister on Sunday announced Berlin would double its 2024 military aid for war-torn Ukraine, which is struggling to oust occupying Russian troops, to 8 billion euros ($8.5 billion). “This is a strong signal to Ukraine, showing we are not giving up on it” when international attention is focused on the Israel-Hamas war, Boris Pistorius told television channel ARD. Ukraine has consistently demanded greater military aid from its Western allies, but a counter-offensive launched this year has failed to drive out Russian forces entrenched in the south and east of the country. The increased money is a response to this year’s experience, “which showed that planned amounts were quickly exhausted,” Pistorius said. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government reached an agreement to double the initial aid package, mainly made up of military equipment, and the decision is due to be formally approved in a vote by lawmakers. Germany has been one of Ukraine’s main backers since Russia unleashed its full-scale invasion in February last year, supplying 22 billion euros in humanitarian, financial and military aid. But it has resisted delivering long-range Taurus missiles that Kyiv has asked for, fearing their use to target Russian territory.