EU looks at weapons purchases outside bloc to help Ukraine
European leaders meeting in Paris discussed a proposal to buy ammunition from countries outside the region, giving momentum to an idea that would help get much-needed military equipment to Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who was due to detail the plan to purchase 800,000 rounds from several countries, said a number of heads of state and government expressed backing for the initiative during the talks on Monday.
“I think that this action will have strong support, I expect that it could be 15 countries,” he told reporters as he left the summit, declining to name them.
“We estimate that there should be sufficient ammunition production in Europe and Ukraine in 2025, but we need to bridge the period until then,” Fiala said. “The Czech initiative is a way the European states can do that.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called the extraordinary summit in a show of support for Ukraine and to underscore Western determination to help it win. But France and other nations have resisted using European Union funds to buy ammo outside the bloc, with Paris urging that money to be spent on developing the EU’s own industries.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said after the meeting that his country had agreed to contribute €100 million ($109 million) to the Czech plan and said he hoped other capitals would follow.
The talks came as Europe’s inability to provide Ukraine with sufficient military equipment has opened a rift between eastern and western nations. The mood in diplomatic circles in the east is that should Russia ultimately win, Western Europe won’t be forgiven and the whole European integration project could be jeopardized.
