Europeans 'must open their wallets' to fund US weapons for Ukraine: Germany

BERLIN

Germany has called on European allies to allocate funds for purchasing American weapons to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told public broadcaster ARD late Monday that Berlin is ready to contribute funds, but stressed that this responsibility must be shared by other European countries.

"This is an appeal to all other European NATO member states. Everyone must open their wallets," Pistorius said. "It's about quickly raising the sums that are initially needed especially for air defense,” he added.

Pistorius made the remarks following his meeting with US counterpart Pete Hegseth in Washington DC. He said they also discussed bilateral defense cooperation during their meeting and explored the potential acquisition of long-range Typhon missile systems from the US.

"Germany can thereby significantly increase its own defense capabilities, as well as its deterrent capabilities, but also those of Europe, and that is of crucial importance,” Pistorius said, adding that Berlin is considering deploying the Typhon systems as an interim solution until Europeans develop their own comparable system.

Trump approves Ukraine weapons plan

US President Donald Trump sharply criticized Russia on Monday and announced a new plan to supply Ukraine with weapons after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office.

He expressed frustration with Russia over the lack of progress in Ukraine peace efforts and threatened to impose 100% secondary tariffs on Russia if a peace deal isn't reached within 50 days.

“We made a deal today … We are going to be sending them (Ukrainians) weapons that they are going to be paying for. The US will not be having any payment made. We're not buying it, but we will manufacture it, and they're going to be paying for it,” he said.

Rutte confirmed the arrangement, saying: “The US has decided to indeed massively supply Ukraine with what is necessary through NATO. Europeans (are) 100% paying for that.”