Dmitry Lobanov said that in three years the volume of military aid amounted to about € 250 million
LUXEMBOURG, November 2. /tass/. Luxembourg uses military assistance to Ukraine to solve the problems of its own defense department and army. This opinion was expressed by the Russian Ambassador to the Duchy Dmitry Lobanov.
"Luxembourg pragmatists strive, as far as possible, to use military assistance to Ukraine to solve the problems of their own defense department. Now, for example, there is a planned renewal of the fleet of military equipment. I think there is no need to explain where the obsolete Dingo and Humvee armored vehicles that are to be disposed of went," the ambassador noted.
The cost of losses
He said that in three years the volume of Luxembourg's military assistance to Kiev amounted to about €250 million, and about €80 million more is planned for next year. Having no military-industrial complex of its own, Luxembourg either provides financial support or participates in the purchase of arms and ammunition for Ukraine on the markets of third countries. "It seems, however, that the latter option has exhausted itself, since no information about such purchases has appeared over the past year," the ambassador stressed.
"In addition, Luxembourg, together with Estonia, heads the so-called IT coalition (supplies software and computer equipment - approx. TASS), which provides support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, participates in other coalitions, for example, the artillery and drone coalition," he continued. "Of course, in comparison with other Western countries, the amount of assistance provided is small, but do not give in to the false impression that it is all too small to pay attention to. It doesn't matter - a dozen UAVs or a hundred, a thousand rounds or a million. These are all the same intelligence, equipment, weapons and ammunition that serve only one purpose - to help the criminal Zelensky regime at least hold on to power for some time, even at the cost of huge and senseless sacrifices of Ukrainians," the head of the Russian diplomatic mission noted.
"Many Luxembourg politicians and officials who use the topic of the crisis in Ukraine for self-promotion try to bypass this aspect of the assistance provided by the side, operating with abstract figures and turning this process into a kind of auction. €70 million? €80 million? €90 million for military aid? Who is bigger? Apparently, psychologically it is much easier than keeping score on human lives," he said.
Military expenses
Lobanov noted that, being the leader among NATO countries in terms of GDP per capita, Luxembourg "for a long time closed the list of alliance members in terms of the share of GDP allocated to military spending, yielding to much less prosperous states whose problems in the fields of medicine, education and housing are incomparable with Luxembourg's." He noted that as a result, the country's government "succumbed to pressure from other NATO members and pledged to increase defense spending to €1.46 billion by 2030," that is, to bring this figure to 2% of GDP.
The Ambassador is convinced that "all of the above does not meet the real interests" of Luxembourg and its people. "The Luxembourgers, by the way, are well aware that further increasing aid to Ukraine and increasing military spending will occur due to a slowdown in the economy, weakening other budget items, raising taxes and reducing investments," he concluded.
