Germany unites behind chancellor’s historic U-turn on arming Ukraine

In a speech in front of the Bundestag on Sunday, Scholz crossed several red lines held by his own party in less than half an hour, when he announced that Germany would send missiles and anti-tank weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression and set up a special €100bn (£83bn) fund to modernise its own forces. “A turning point in the history of our continent” called for an appropriate response, he said.

While the size of the one-off “special fund” for Germany’s military was brokered with his finance minister, Christian Lindner, of the liberal Free Democratic party (FDP), sources quoted in the German media say Scholz left his Green party coalition partners in the dark as to the size of the defence budget boost.

Scholz’s allies, meanwhile, are briefing that Green ministers were informed of the exact amount but preferred to feign ignorance, in an attempt to save face as an environmental party born out of a protest movement against the cold war arms race.