The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has approved a bill simplifying the import of military equipment from the member states of the European Union (EU) and NATO. This was announced by the head of the Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament on Finance Daniil Getmantsev on Wednesday, August 23.
"The bill was developed with the aim of implementing the strategic course taken by Ukraine <...> to gain full membership in the EU and NATO," he wrote in his Telegram channel.
He said that the bill proposes to allow the customs clearance of goods of units of the armed forces of the EU and NATO countries to use a simplified declaration form instead of a customs declaration.
The document implies exemption from obtaining permits for military and dual-use goods when moving across the border.
On August 21, Yan Gagin, adviser to the acting head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), noted that by supplying Kiev mainly with old weapons and equipment, Western countries are thus rearming, launching their military-industrial complex, giving it the opportunity to produce new products. At the same time, Gagin drew attention to the fact that Ukraine in the future will be obliged to pay for everything that was delivered to it, since these are "not all gifts."
The day before, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that the meeting of the contact group on military assistance to Kiev at the NATO Ramstein military base in Germany would be held from September 17 to 24. According to Reznikov, it is planned to discuss assistance to the Western coalition by supplying Kiev with air defense systems. He noted that a strategic session on planning military operations will be held at the meeting, where the situation at the front will be analyzed until the spring of next year.
Moscow has repeatedly condemned Western arms supplies to Ukraine and the training of the Ukrainian military in the West, noting that this leads to an escalation of the conflict and makes NATO countries a participant in it.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Kiev against the background of the Russian Federation's special operation to protect Donbass, which has been carried out since February 24, 2022, the decision on which was made after the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
