BERLIN >> Germany on Saturday sent the strongest signal yet of its commitment to backing Ukraine in its battle against Russian occupiers, promising more tanks, armored vehicles and substantial air defense systems in its largest weapons package for Ukraine.

The arms package, totaling about $2.95 billion, amounted to roughly as much as Germany’s total military aid to Ukraine since the war began in late February 2022.

The move was part of a budding effort by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to draw a line under a year of rocky relations over Germany’s hesitancy to provide weapons and solidify a partnership that may prove increasingly critical to maintaining European unity in backing the war.

With elections looming in the United States next year, concern is growing in European capitals that President Joe Biden will become less willing to showcase support for Ukraine, given the potential for Republicans to use the issue against him during the presidential campaign. Europe fears an even sharper drop in support for Ukraine should a Republican win the presidency next year.

The German announcement was one of the most forceful steps yet taken by Scholz to back his call last year for Germans to play a leading role in Europe’s security affairs — and to bolster their own forces — in the face of a newly perceived threat from Russia.

“We all wish for a speedy end to this terrible war waged by Russia against the Ukrainian people,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who has been even more outspoken than Scholz on support for Ukraine. “Germany will provide all the help it can — as long as it takes.”

Although the additional arms will no doubt be welcomed by Ukraine, it was not certain they would arrive in time for its much anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces.

In recent days, as Kyiv’s forces made advances near Bakhmut, the eastern city that more than any other has come to stand for the mounting costs of the war, Russia’s pro-war bloggers interpreted the move as a signal that the Ukrainian push had begun.