With his announcement to supply Ukraine with weapons worth up to $10 billion, President Donald Trump has effectively reversed his administration’s official policy on the NATO war against Russia. The new deliveries include, among other things, Patriot air defence systems and long-range missiles capable of reaching major Russian cities.
Hardly any other government reacted to this massive escalation with such enthusiasm as the German one. Immediately after Trump’s announcement, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) declared on X: “President Trump has taken an important initiative today: The USA will provide Ukraine with weapons on a large scale if its European partners finance this. ... I have assured him: Germany will contribute decisively.”
According to its own statements, the German government will pay for at least two Patriot systems, each costing around €1 billion. At the time of Trump’s announcement, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Union, SPD) was already in Washington for talks with his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth. The talks were aimed at close technical and logistical coordination. Pistorius promised: “We will get to work quickly.”
This development marks a qualitative escalation of the war—and at the same time underlines the aggressiveness with which Berlin is rearming against Russia once again, 80 years after the Second World War. Merz justified the decision with the words: “We are doing this in our own interest.” The pressure on Moscow, he said, must increase.
The official narrative that this represents a defensive measure against “bombing terror” is pure propaganda. Russia’s reactionary invasion of Ukraine does not change the fact that the imperialist powers have been systematically provoking this war for years. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, NATO has been expanding eastwards to encircle Russia militarily. Germany, which traditionally plays a leading role in the EU’s militarisation plans, is now placing itself at the forefront of the escalation.
Peace is the very least concern of German imperialism. As in the world wars of the 20th century, the ruling elites are pursuing economic and geopolitical interests, specifically, the control of resource-rich Ukraine and the subjugation of Russia itself. In his last government policy statement, Merz described the Russian government as a “criminal regime” that threatened Europe. He declared: “The means of diplomacy have been exhausted.”
This is tantamount to a declaration of war. When the means of diplomacy are at an end, the hour of war strikes. As early as autumn 2023, Pistorius spoke of the need for Germany to become “fit for war” (kriegstüchtig). With war credits of around €1 trillion and a planned increase in military spending to 5 percent of GDP, rearmament has become the state doctrine.
The goal is to make the Bundeswehr “the strongest conventional army in Europe,” something Merz has openly announced on several occasions. Pistorius is demanding a prompt increase in the size of the Bundeswehr by at least 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers, a number that is hardly achievable without reintroducing conscription. On Sunday, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke out in favour of it again on state broadcaster ZDF. He said he was “a proponent of conscription” and the Bundeswehr would have to increase its personnel to meet the new “challenges.”
In parallel, materiel rearmament is taking place on a gigantic scale. According to media reports, Berlin is planning, among other things, the procurement of around 1,000 Leopard main battle tanks and 2,500 Boxer wheeled armoured vehicles, at a cost of at least €25 billion. The production lists of the armaments industry also include new warships, fighter jets, drones, missiles and vast quantities of ammunition.
Under conditions in which Berlin has not yet established its own desired war economy, it remains dependent on US technology. Pistorius is currently negotiating with Washington about the procurement of the Typhon system, capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 short-range missiles. These weapon systems have a range of around 2,000 kilometres and can thus reach Russian territory, including Moscow.
According to Pistorius, the system—which the US Army itself intends to station in Germany from 2026—could also be permanently adopted by the Bundeswehr. This would put the Bundeswehr in a position to attack the nuclear power Russia directly from German soil, a scenario that conjures up the danger of a devastating nuclear confrontation.
The current German-American arms alliance is more than fragile. Trump’s protectionist measures and the escalating trade war—the EU has already responded to Washington’s latest tariff threats with a list of potential retaliatory measures—could quickly turn into open hostility. It is precisely for this reason that Berlin is using the still-existing cooperation to position itself independently, both strategically and militarily.
At the immediate centre of German rearmament is the war offensive against Russia. In a joint press statement with Hegseth, Pistorius boasted that Germany would “significantly increase our defence spending to 5 percent of our GDP.” According to the budget plan, 3.5 percent is to be spent on “core defence expenditure” by 2029. In addition, the Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania—a permanent German combat unit with heavy weapons, its own base and permanently stationed personnel—will be “operational by 2027.”
The historical symbolism is unmistakable: Lithuania, a former Soviet territory, was a central stage for Nazi crimes. After Hitler’s army, the Wehrmacht, invaded in June 1941, local collaborators actively participated in the almost complete annihilation of the Jewish population. Now, the Baltic states and all of Eastern Europe are once again serving as a staging ground for a military confrontation with Russia. And once again, German imperialism is cooperating with extreme right-wing and neo-fascist elements in the process.
Shortly before accompanying Pistorius to the US, Major General Christian Freuding, head of the Special Staff for Ukraine in the Federal Ministry of Defence, was in Kyiv. The same Freuding who, just a few weeks ago, had commemorated the 80th anniversary of Germany’s defeat in World War II with a Ukrainian neo-Nazi commander, promised hundreds of long-range weapon systems for Ukraine. He spoke of a “high three-figure number” to the ZDF “Heute Journal” news programme.
Freuding openly stated that these weapons were intended for long-range strikes into the Russian hinterland: “We need weapon systems that can reach deep into Russian territory—that can attack command facilities, airfields, aircraft.” The first systems are due to be delivered by the end of July.
German imperialism, which already tried to subjugate Russia in both world wars of the 20th century and in doing so committed the greatest crimes in human history, is once again preparing for a murderous war. Speaking to the Financial Times, Pistorius stressed that German troops would be prepared to kill Russian soldiers should Moscow attack a NATO member. “If deterrence does not work and Russia attacks, will it come to that? Yes,” he threatened. He continued, “I would recommend you just go to Vilnius and speak to the representatives of the German brigade there. They know exactly what their job is.”