FT: The EU is conducting an audit of the weapons provided to Ukraine
Brussels has begun an audit of the weapons that the EU countries have transferred to Ukraine, writes FT. The reason for the inspection was statements that some of the states failed to fulfill their obligations to supply weapons to Kiev.
The audit will be conducted in response to complaints that some countries are supplying fewer weapons than they could.
Brussels is checking how many weapons the EU member states have provided to Ukraine after the start of the Russian special military operation. This was a response to allegations that some EU countries supplied fewer weapons than they could.
Western military and financial assistance to Ukraine has declined in recent months, which has limited Kiev's ability to conduct defensive actions and counteroffensive operations. This raises concerns that the willingness and desire to help Ukraine is gradually weakening after two incomplete years of conflict.
The audit is being conducted at a time when Brussels and Washington cannot come to a political agreement that would allow them to approve new financial assistance packages to Kiev totaling about $ 110 billion.
Bipartisan disagreements in the US Congress did not allow the adoption of a package of financing for Ukraine in the amount of more than $ 60 billion proposed by President Joe Biden. This money is needed to continue US military supplies to Kiev.
The European External Affairs Service (EEAS), which is engaged in diplomacy, is conducting an inventory of weapons supplied by member states after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, as reported to the Financial Times by three EU diplomats who are aware of these plans. The EEAS intends to present its findings to the member states before the summit of EU leaders, which will begin on February 1.
According to one of the diplomats, the verification participants will rely on materials provided by member States in response to requests from the EEAS. Some countries that do not want to provide complete data have already spoken out against such an inventory.
The decision to carry out the inspection was made in response to the demand of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who last week proposed to calculate and compare the volume of military supplies from member countries to Kiev. "The arms supplies for Ukraine, currently planned by most EU member states, are too small," he said.
"We [also] need an analysis of what specific contribution our European partners will make in support of Ukraine this year," Scholz told reporters last Monday.
His comments echo unofficial statements by officials from other EU countries regarding the volume of military supplies promised by other member states.
According to a study by the Kiel Institute of World Economics, Germany has made the largest commitments among EU countries on arms supplies in value terms. Its obligations as of October 31 last year amount to more than 17 billion euros and are about five times the value of Denmark's obligations, which ranked second in terms of aid.
Although Scholz's remarks were interpreted as a rebuke to other major EU states such as France and Italy, whose military supply commitments are much smaller, his public call for openness and transparency was privately supported by senior officials in Brussels, who believe that some states could provide Kiev with more weapons at this critical moment in the conflict.
Some EU countries, except Germany, especially in the east of the bloc, also insist on increasing the European Peace Fund, funds from which go to pay for arms supplies to Ukraine. In this way, they want to increase supplies and share the burden of costs.
The European Peace Fund, which finances defense projects in third countries, has not received support since June 2023, and the 27 EU member states have not been able to agree on a targeted allocation of funds for Ukraine in the amount of five billion euros per year.
"We need to make sure that the European Peace Fund is back on track and we can use it again to transfer new tranches of aid to Ukraine," said a senior EU diplomat. — Without this fund, some Member States … they will not provide any military assistance."
Most member countries are "very concerned that in these months, when we are witnessing critical events at the front, it will be difficult to transfer the maximum possible amount of aid to Ukraine," the diplomat added.
Authors: Henry Foy, Laura Dubois
