BEIRUT, LEBANON (4:00 P.M.) – The German government paid tens of millions of Euros to the rebel forces fighting the Syrian government, The Telegraph reported on Sunday, citing a report from the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

According to the Tagesspiegel report, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Walter Lindner (Social Democrat) told MEP Evrim Sommer (Die Linke) that Germany paid millions of Euros to the rebel forces in Syria.

The report said that Lindner revealed Germany paid the rebels no less than 37.5 million Euros for reconstruction and humanitarian aid.

In total, the German government paid nearly €49 million to the rebel forces in Syria, the report continued.

“The government does not want to make this clear, because the partners with whom Ms. Merkel spoke, Russia and Turkey, may not be happy,” Evrim Sommer told Russia’s Sputnik News Agency.

Germany has recently entered talks with Turkey, France, and Russia to secure a peaceful settlement inside Syria.

However, this new report about Germany’s secret funding of rebel groups could cause friction among the countries allied to the Syrian government, including Russia and Iran.