Germany ready to support Ukraine for next decade – general

Kiev has been unable to make significant gains despite Berlin and other NATO members already spending billions on defense aid

Germany is not daunted by the prospect of a protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and will back Kiev for the next decade, Brigadier General Christian Freuding has said. He added that Berlin is seeking to ensure that Ukraine retakes all the territory within its 1991 borders.

Appearing at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) forum on Sunday, Freuding was asked whether Germany was prepared to support Ukraine if the hostilities with Russia ended up becoming a “long war” spanning several more years. The German military official replied by saying it was unrealistic to expect the conflict to end in the near future.

Freuding went on to claim that “we’ve got the support of our parliament… for our military support for our Ukrainian friends up to the year 2032.”

“We are ready and we are prepared to give long-term support… and we are ready to make time… our ally, and not time become [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s ally,” he added.

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Freuding insisted that Berlin was looking to “accelerate our support” and “coordinate our support better” with the aim of ensuring a Ukrainian victory.

Late last month, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz revealed that Berlin would focus on providing Ukraine with artillery, munitions, and air defense systems. He clarified that Germany was planning to prioritize weapons that were likely to be “immediately effective” on the battlefield.

Also in August, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the G7 leaders expected the conflict to be lengthy and were ready to support Ukraine for as long as necessary – a refrain echoed by several other Western leaders.

Trudeau’s assessment concurs with that of former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has warned that the hostilities could drag on for years or even decades.

Medvedev, who currently serves as deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, has described the conflict as nothing short of “existential” for Moscow.