Germany Pledges New $542 Million Arms Package To Ukraine

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on May 30 announced a new German arms package worth 500 million euros ($542 million) to support Ukraine. Pistorius made the announcement during a visit to the Ukrainian port city of Odesa and after meeting with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov to discuss Kyiv's military needs. The package contains a large number of missiles for medium-range IRIS-T SLM air-defense systems and a smaller number of SLS missiles with shorter ranges. It also includes drones for reconnaissance and combat in the Black Sea as well as urgently needed spare parts such as replacement barrels for artillery systems supplied by Germany and replacement engines for Leopard battle tanks.