BERLIN, December 2. /TASS/. As part of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recently announced 650 million euro ($683 million) military aid package to Ukraine, Germany plans to send IRIS-T air defense systems, Leopard-1 tanks as well as surveillance and strike drones to Kiev, German Defense Ministry Spokesperson Mitko Mueller told reporters.

As regards "the [IRIS-T] SLS and SLM systems that we included in long-term lists, we expect to supply them later this year. Furthermore, we are discussing sending combat vehicles, including Leopard-1 tanks and drones - surveillance ones and the initial batch of strike drones," Mueller said, adding that the package also included guns and winter gear.

German Deputy Government Spokesperson Wolfgang Buechner said the bulk of weapons supplies to Kiev had been announced in October. Back then, the 1.4 billion euro package included two IRIS-T systems, ten Leopard 1A5 tanks and dozens of other tanks, as well as hundreds of rockets.

Earlier on Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in the Ukrainian capital for an unannounced visit, his first in two and a half years. The German head of government announced on X that he would tell Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky about Berlin’s plans to send 650 million euros worth of weapons to Kiev later this month.

Germany, the second-largest arms supplier to Ukraine after the US, has committed a total of about 28 billion euros in past and future military support to Kiev. In its proposed 2025 budget, the country allocated four billion euros for aid, half the amount it spent this year. The budget is yet to be approved by the Bundestag.

Russia has repeatedly stated that funneling weapons into Ukraine will not reduce Russia’s resolve or change the course of the special military operation.