On November 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Germany's ambition to become a "key military force in Europe" shows that the country's attitude towards the past seems to have improved.
According to Mr. Lavrov, this change began about 15 years ago, when Russia-Germany relations were at their "best time". At that time, the Berlin side declared that the debt from World War II had been fully paid and that Germany will act on that awareness from now on.
No one owes anyone anything anymore, the Russian Foreign Minister quoted German colleagues as saying many years ago.
Mr. Lavrov also recalled the history of Germany as a military power, causing serious consequences when it conquered half of Europe and mobilized forces from many countries to attack the Soviet Union in the 1940s.
This shows Russia's significant concern over the recent strong mediatization of Prime Minister Friedrich Merz's regime.
Mr. Lavrov noted that Russia will closely monitor the situation in Germany to discuss terms to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. In the event of escalating tensions, Russia is forced to maintain a steadfast stance.
That will require us, all those who care about a stable world, to be steadfast in discussing final agreements, Mr. Lavrov said.
Since Merz took office in May, after several meetings, the German parliament has agreed to exempt defense spending from debt limits, allowing the defense budget to increase to about 83 billion euros by 2026.
Accordingly, a series of weapons orders have been planned, including 20 Eurofighter jets, 3,000 Boxer armored vehicles and 3,500 Patria infantry fighting vehicles. The Eurofighter order is estimated at 4-5 billion euros, while the Boxer and Patria are 10 billion and 7 billion euros respectively, with plans to deliver in the next 10 years.
The German Defense Ministry has also pushed the purchase of additional IRIS-T air defense systems and several hundred SkyRanger UAVs. This is an effort to reduce dependence on the US and take greater responsibility for European security.
