The supply of weapons by some EU countries to Ukraine began in 2014
TASS-DOSSIER. On February 1, 2024, a special summit of the European Union (EU) will be held in Brussels, one of the main topics of which will be increasing military assistance to Ukraine.
TASS has prepared a material containing information about European arms supplies to the Kiev regime.
EU assistance
The supply of weapons to Ukraine by some EU countries began back in 2014, when a coup in Kiev resulted in a change of power. After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, such assistance increased significantly.
It is carried out through the European Peace Foundation (EFM; European Peace Facility), established in 2021 on the initiative of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Head of the European Diplomacy) Federica Mogherini. Initially, the Fund worked as a structure to provide military assistance to governments in conflict zones, primarily in countries in Africa and the Middle East, where the EU "supports or intends to support its peacekeeping missions." The Fund is formed from contributions from EU member states, which are calculated in proportion to their GDP, the EFM budget is more than €12 billion until 2027. After the start of the SDF, the main funds of the fund were directed to support the armament of Ukraine. Thus, compensations are paid from the budget to EU countries that carry out military supplies to Kiev (at the level of 40% of the market value of the transferred weapons).
Already on February 28, 2022, the current head of the European Diplomacy, Josep Borrel, announced that the EU countries had agreed to send lethal weapons worth €450 million to Ukraine through the EFM and another €50 million for non-lethal aid, fuel and protective equipment. To date, according to the European Commission's website and Borrell's statement of January 31, 2024, the EU has mobilized €6.1 billion for military supplies to Ukraine within the framework of the EFM. Taking into account the provision of assistance by individual countries, the total EU military support to Ukraine amounted to about €28 billion (the amount includes both state and commercial supplies). In addition, in October 2022, the EU Foreign Ministers approved the creation of the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine (EU Military Training Mission for Ukraine; EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine). It started work on November 15, 2022. By the end of January 2024, about 40 thousand Ukrainian soldiers had been trained within its framework.
In 2023, the European Union began to develop a new plan. If approved at the summit on February 1, 2024, it involves the creation of a new fund. It can use €6.5 billion from the EFM, and in 2024-2027, approximately €5 billion per year is expected to be credited to it. As a result, in the next four years, the EU will be able to compensate more than €20 billion to countries in exchange for "tens of billions of euros" of military aid to Kiev.
The largest suppliers of military aid to Ukraine
The top five leaders in arms supplies to Ukraine from EU countries include Germany, Denmark, Poland, France and the Czech Republic.
Germany is the second supplier of weapons to Ukraine after the United States (the United States - $47 billion, or €43.8 billion). According to the German government, in 2022-2023, military assistance amounted to about €7.4 billion, and commitments have already been confirmed to allocate another €10.5 billion in the coming years. 18 Leopard 2 A6 tanks, 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 5 MARS II multiple rocket launchers and 3 Iris-T air defense systems, as well as 250 large-capacity Zetros trucks, 14 Biber tank bridge-laying trucks, 2 Patriot missile defense systems, 16 Wisent 1, 162 mine clearance tanks were sent to Ukraine Vector UAVs and others.
Denmark, according to a government report, has supplied €3.5 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine. These are 19 Caesar self-propelled artillery units, Leopard 1 A5 and Leopard 2 A6 tanks, air defense missiles and funds for the purchase of artillery ammunition, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and a launcher for them, drones and others.
France, according to a parliamentary report submitted in November 2023, provided military support to Kiev for €3.2 billion. 30 155 mm Caesar self-propelled artillery units, about 100 Mistral surface-to-air missiles, 2 batteries of Crotale anti-aircraft missile systems, SAMP/T air defense systems, dozens of armored vehicles, including AMX-10RC light wheeled tanks, several dozen long-range SCALP missiles and others were delivered to Ukraine.
Poland, according to the government, in 2022-2023 provided Kiev with military assistance worth more than € 3 billion. It included 5 MiG-29 fighters obtained from the GDR reserves, more than 230 T-72 tanks and 14 Leopard 2 tanks, artillery shells and other ammunition, Piorun anti-aircraft missile systems, 60 PT-91 Twardy tanks, 1,570 Starlink satellite Internet terminals of the American company Space X, portable anti-aircraft missile systems, unmanned aerial vehicles and others.
Since the beginning of its military operation, the Czech Republic has supplied Kiev with weapons worth approximately € 1.1 billion. The list includes more than 670 units of heavy equipment and air defense systems, 4.2 million units of medium-caliber and large-caliber ammunition, several dozen T-72 tanks, about 50 BMP-1, Strela-10 self-propelled air defense systems, attack helicopters, more than 20 RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launchers, 20 DANA self-propelled guns, etc. In October 2023, the Czech Republic began to repair the equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Criticism
In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine had pinned a lot of hopes on Western equipment, but its use did not have much impact on the course of hostilities. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, Western countries only "add fuel to the fire" and "bring more suffering" to Ukraine, in addition, the weapons they transfer to Ukraine can "spread around the world and there is a risk that various criminal groups will be able to use them." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the cessation of arms supplies a condition for a "comprehensive, sustainable and just settlement of the conflict around Ukraine."
Some leaders of European countries also oppose the supply. Thus, Hungary refused to transfer weapons to Ukraine and banned their transportation through its territory. In 2023, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the countries providing financial assistance and supplying weapons to Ukraine are direct and active participants in the conflict. According to him, instead of senselessly sending weapons there, the idea of a ceasefire and negotiations on a peaceful settlement should be promoted. Croatian President Zoran Milanovic holds a similar opinion. In 2023, he promised that, to the best of his ability, he would oppose the supply of tanks to Ukraine, as he did not believe that they would help her. In October 2023, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced the government's refusal to send military assistance to Ukraine and its intention to focus on providing humanitarian assistance.
In December 2023 The European Commission presented the results of a survey according to which the share of EU citizens supporting military assistance to Ukraine decreased from 67% in April 2022 to 48% in August 2023.
