Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine

Germany is planning to nearly halve military aid for Ukraine next year, from around €8bn (£6.7bn; $8.7bn) to around €4bn, according to a draft budget approved by the government.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Ukraine's financing was "secure for the foreseeable future" due to a G7 group of rich nations scheme to raise $50bn from interest on frozen Russian assets.

Germany is Ukraine's second biggest military donor, after the US. In 2024, Berlin's budget for Kyiv is set at nearly €7.5bn.

The planned aid cut comes amid fears in Ukraine and among its European allies that US funds could be slashed or even stopped if Donald Trump wins the presidency in November's election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The draft budget was approved by the German government on Wednesday.

Although military aid to Ukraine is set to be reduced, the defence budget for 2025 will be raised by €1.3bn to €53.25bn.

This is still less than the €6bn for which Defence Minister Boris Pistorius had been pushing.

Overall, Germany is planning to meet the target of 2% GDP spending on defence as required by the Nato alliance.

The defence budget still needs to be approved by lawmakers.

In other developments:

• Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday carried out the latest swap of prisoners of war, with each side receiving back 95 military personnel. The United Arab Emirates facilitated the exchange
• A source in Ukraine’s military confirmed to the BBC that Ukrainian troops had withdrawn from the village of Krynky - a key foothold on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region. But the source added that Ukraine's operations in the area continued
• Britain's new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will host some 45 European leaders on Thursday at a summit he hopes will begin to reset London's relationship with the continent. The gathering of the European Political Community (EPC) will also give leaders a chance to reaffirm support for Ukraine.