Europe appears to have accepted the prospect of acting independently of the United States, with a new rearmament program proposed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last week.
Europe plans rearmament without U.S.
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Tag: Russia
Ukraine, U.S. shake on ceasefire, military aid & intel
| Ukraine agrees to U.S. ceasefire pitch in exchange for resumed military supplies and intelligence
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Ukraine has agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia in exchange for resumption of suspended military aid and intelligence after talks between the two countries in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Arms sales jump as global supply struggles to meet demand while defence budgets grapple with national politics
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As NATO races to supply Ukraine before Trump takes office, Europe is struggling to touch two percent of its GDP on defence expenditure while Russia plans to spend more than 32 percent of its national budget on its military.
German defence minister: Ukraine no longer a regional war
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Russian President Vladimir Putin “has long since switched completely to a war economy,” and the country is currently producing as many weapons and ammunition in three months as the entire European Union does in a year, Pistorius said.
Germany’s Scholz speaks with Putin for first time in nearly 2 years
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Shortly before the conversation with Putin, however, Scholz also reiterated in remarks to parliament that Germany would not supply Ukraine with the long-range Taurus cruise missiles, which Ukraine has repeatedly requested.
Russia announces first export customer for Sukhoi-57
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Russian officials did not, however, specify the country that has ordered the aircraft, the export variant of which is called the Sukhoi-57E. Potential customers for the Sukhoi-57 in the past have included India, China, Vietnam and Algeria.
Greenpeace study says NATO still holds military advantage over Russia
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An analysis of the military capabilities of the Western alliance and Russia “leaves no doubt about NATO’s overall military superiority.” Only in terms of nuclear weapons do the two sides have parity, concluded the study’s authors.
Survey finds Germans favour hiked defence spending
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In the September survey, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius’ (SPD) proposal to increase defence spending to 3% to 3.5% of the gross domestic product received 50% approval, while 15% said that was too low.
Kremlin awaiting first move from Germany after hints from Scholz
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No signals have as yet been received from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on resuming dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite statements to the effect by Scholz, according to the Kremlin.
German Cabinet approves new military service model to boost numbers
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Russia’s war on Ukraine has prompted Germany to revisit its defence posture, which increasingly suffered from a lack of investment since the end of the Cold War as imminent threats appeared to diminish. The legislation must now pass through Germany’s two houses of parliament. It could come into force in May of next year.
German Defence Ministry faces shortfall of €6 billion
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German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that the Bundeswehr needs around €58 billion ($63 billion) in 2025 to quickly close capability gaps. “As things stand, we will be allocated around €52 billion”, he said, adding, “That means we will be short of almost €6 billion next year.”
German defence chief warns of Russian military build-up
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“The Russian army increases its number of tanks by 1,000 to 1,500 additional units every year. The five largest European NATO member states together have just half of that in their inventory,” said Germany’s chief of defence Carsten Breuer.
Scholz addresses criticism of German defence spending
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Scholz’s coalition has faced criticism over the small increase in the 2025 budget for defence. “In 2017, we still spent €37 billion ($42 billion) on defence. Now, with the use of the special fund, the Bundeswehr‘s budget is €75 billion. That’s more or less a doubling,” Scholz said.
Germany’s Baerbock backs U.S. missiles to deter Russia
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The U.S. and German governments announced plans for the deployment of U.S. missile systems that could reach Russia. These include nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 2,500 kilometres, SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles and newly-developed hypersonic missiles.
Pushback against conscription plans in Germany
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Economic researchers and partners in the ruling coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz have warned of immense economic costs and legal difficulties that could result from plans for military conscription proposed by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in June in an attempt to boost the numbers of the German armed forces.
