Chancellor Olaf Scholz has blocked an air defence package for Ukraine worth €3 billion (£2.5 billion) in one of his last key decisions before the election, according to German media reports.

Mr Scholz has reportedly denied a request for the “urgent and necessary” arms package from Annalena Baerbock, his foreign minister, and Boris Pistorius, his defence minister.

The package would have included further deliveries of Iris-T air defence missiles, Patriot air defence missiles, howitzers and ammunition, as Ukraine continues a counter-offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

It comes after Ukrainian officials sent a list to Western allies identifying their most urgently needed equipment, which put air defence missiles at the top of the list.

According to German magazine Spiegel, which cited sources in the German government, Mr Scholz did not consider the package to be necessary and turned it down. The German government declined to comment on the internal row.

Germany is Ukraine’s biggest financial backer in Europe, providing €7.1 billion (£6.5 billion) in military aid in 2024 alone, but Mr Scholz has faced criticism for being slow or reluctant to provide weapons shipments.