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Helmets to jets: Germany beefs up ‘dire’ military to counter Russia

The war in Ukraine has exposed the grim state of Germany’s armed forces, forcing a $150 billion buying spree.

Berlin | One of Vladimir Putin’s biggest miscalculations since the Ukraine war started almost 12 months ago could be his historically cosy relationship with European powerhouse Germany.

As a KGB officer in the 1980s, Putin spent five years stationed in then communist East Germany. And as Russian president more than a decade later, Putin proclaimed in the Bundestag, in fluent German, that the two countries were partners in “building a common European home”, with close economic ties.

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/policy/foreign-affairs/helmets-to-jets-germany-beefs-up-dire-military-to-counter-russia-20230214-p5ckfz