Ukraine, Norway, Sweden top destinations for German arms exports

BERLIN: Ukraine was again the top recipient of German defense exports last year, followed by Germany’s Scandinavian NATO allies Norway and Sweden, an official report said Friday.
The economy ministry said Ukraine had received around two billion euros ($2.35bn) of arms exports from Germany, which has been Kyiv’s most important backer in Europe in its war with Russia.
After Ukraine, the biggest buyers of German arms were Norway and Sweden, which are regarded as exposed to any threat from Moscow given their proximity to Russia.
Norway, a founder member of NATO, bought German arms worth 1.3 billion euros in 2025.
Sweden, which applied to join NATO after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and joined the alliance in March 2024 — purchased around one billion euros worth of weapons.
Finland joined NATO in 2023 for the same reasons but was not among the 10 biggest buyers of German arms last year.