MOSCOW, February 3 – RIA Novosti. The agency said it is exploring the possibility of diverting funds allocated for Germany’s coal exit projects to defense financing. Bloomberg.

According to the agency, the German armed forces have had problems with outdated and partially broken equipment for several years. Since the special military operation Russia launched in Ukraine last year, the German government has allocated $109 billion to defense to expand and modernize its armed forces.

“Negotiations between the German federal government and regional authorities are aimed at providing more weapons and equipment to the country’s armed forces, as well as creating jobs in areas affected by coal abandonment,” the agency’s publication states.

Last year, German authorities passed a law allowing the return of coal-fired power plants that have been shelved for climate protection reasons, as part of tackling the energy crisis and as part of plans to phase out Russian gas. Prior to that, the government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, based on the work of the state commission, decided that coal power should be abandoned before 2038, possibly as early as 2035. The reason for this decision was the need to meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement – to prevent climate warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.