BERLIN, Aug. 25 -- Johann Wadephul spent Saturday to Monday in Ukraine, went to Kharkiv, and came away saying the quiet part. Asked by Tagesschau what European governments could still do for Ukraine's armed forces, Germany's foreign minister answered that there is indeed a lack of funds.

What he proposed to do about it was smaller than the admission. He would need to discuss it in Berlin and Brussels, he said, including at a meeting of European foreign ministers, and above all he would need to speak to Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil about what Germany and others could still manage, and whether part of the funding already planned for next year could be released early.

That is a cash-flow proposal, not a budget one. Germany's draft budge...