Germany will devote in excess of 4% of its gross domestic product to defense spending this year and is progressing toward a 5% target, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Friday.
Speaking ahead of a NATO meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Wadephul said the government intends to propose a stronger industrial partnership with Ukraine aimed at increasing the pace of defense production.
"We suggest to intensify cooperation with Ukraine," Wadephul said. He added that Germany wants to "continuously satisfy the upcoming needs of Ukraine with funding from European NATO allies and Canada."
Wadephul argued that linking Europe’s defense industry with Ukraine’s manufacturing base is necessary to accelerate output. He stressed that negotiations should be approached from a position of strength.
"It is time to be ready for negotiations but we must enter them from a position of strength," Wadephul said.
On wider security contributions, Wadephul said Germany is preparing to take part in efforts to secure the Strait of Hormuz under British leadership, while noting he does not view the initiative as a formal NATO mission.
Regarding the redeployment of U.S. forces, Wadephul said it has long been apparent that the United States will move troops and that Washington has been coordinating burden sharing with Germany.
"All our conversations with the United States point to the fact that the United States will coordinate burden shifting with us," he said.
Wadephul welcomed the U.S. decision to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, and he said Germany has invited the United States to adhere to its original plan to station long-range missiles in Germany.
The minister’s comments outline a strategy combining higher national defense spending with closer international industrial coordination and allied burden sharing. They signal Berlin’s intent to both boost domestic military expenditure and to seek collaborative mechanisms to ensure quicker production and sustained logistical support for Ukraine’s needs.