Olaf Scholz has blocked a new €3 billion aid package for Ukraine, according to Der Spiegel.

The Federal Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, is blocking a new substantial military aid package for Ukraine proposed by the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense, writes Der Spiegel.

The publication notes that there has been an ongoing dispute within the German government for weeks regarding additional military support for Ukraine.

The Foreign Minister Annalen Baerbock from the Greens and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is a party mate of Scholz from the SPD, reportedly suggested allocating an additional approximately 3 billion euros to facilitate the transfer of the most essential weapons to Ukraine before the early elections on February 23.

The contents of the package were compiled according to the requests from the Ukrainian side. It included mentions of three more IRIS-T batteries and interceptor missiles for their operation, additional interceptors for Patriot systems, ten self-propelled howitzers, and artillery ammunition.

According to Pistorius and Baerbock, this would send an important signal to Ukraine that German support would not diminish.

However, since January, work on preparing the package has stalled, as signals from Scholz's office indicated that he opposes such additional spending.

According to Spiegel, Scholz's team explains the disagreement by stating that they do not see a critical necessity for this package and believe that the already allocated assistance will be sufficient for the near future. They also do not want to "present a fait accompli" to the new government that will be formed in the spring.