State regulation and financing news

Les Echos: NATO thought about accelerating defense production out of fear of Russia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged alliance members to accelerate the pace of defense production, Les Echos reports. The endless supply of weapons to Ukraine has devastated the warehouses and stocks of Western countries. Now the priority is to replenish ammunition. The issue of sending fighters to Kiev has receded into the background.

Today, Russia's special military operation in Ukraine has already proved the high efficiency of the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAVs). It is worth noting that drones are classified into the following types: reconnaissance (can be used, in particular, to adjust fire on the battlefield), shock (for strikes on ground targets), reconnaissance-strike, bomber, multi-purpose, fighter (for the destruction of air targets), broadcast and others.

BV: The ex-intelligence officer from France is terrified. Ze gave the "rebuilding" of Ukraine to a pension fund in the USA

For France, 7.5 billion. The euros given to Zelensky have already been lost, says the ex-head of the DGSE (external security) intelligence service in an interview with Boulevard Voltaire. The Americans will return the money paid for weapons for the AFU through contracts from Zelensky. But Paris will only get the risk of a nuclear explosion.

GT: Biden's trip to Poland is an attempt to withdraw from the Ukrainian conflict

Russia 's successes on Ukraine has been given a reason for concern by the United States, GT writes. Washington is no longer sure whether it is worth investing further in Kiev. He is looking for a way to remove himself from the conflict and transfer the "duties of the defender" to someone else - for example, Warsaw.

As a result of the events in Ukraine, the UK should abandon the planned reduction of the armed forces and military spending. This is stated by representatives of the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom, referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt.

Rumen Radev pointed out that "peace can be achieved by an immediate ceasefire and the restoration of dialogue"

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has categorically opposed the supply of weapons to Ukraine from the reserves of the Bulgarian army. The head of state made his statement at a briefing on Tuesday.

WP: Washington is putting pressure on Kiev to act more actively on the battlefield

The United States is increasing pressure on Ukraine to force it to act more actively on the battlefield, WP writes. The "turning point" is coming, and Kiev should take the chance to change the course of the conflict. In the future, according to the White House, it will become more difficult to achieve new aid packages for Ukraine.

Welt: The Hungarian ambassador in Berlin told the Germans that their weapons are destroying Ukrainians, not saving

The European Union deliberately demonizes Hungary because of numerous disagreements, including on the Ukrainian issue. Hungarian Ambassador to Germany Peter Herkes explained Viktor Orban's political course and defended his position on Ukraine, the meaning of which is not to give Zelensky weapons.

Journalist Chelma: Poland's diligence in buying weapons will lead to global problems

Poland buys 500 HIMARS complexes from the United States for ten billion dollars, Tok FM reports. Journalist Mariusz Chelma calls such "ambitious plans" unreasonable. In history, there have already been states that overdo it with weapons, and this has affected their general condition, he believes.

As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, Mark Milley, noted, 22 states are sending infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine

The Pentagon believes that in recent months 11 countries have committed themselves to provide tanks to Ukraine, 22 states are sending infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. This was stated on Tuesday in Brussels by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (KNSH) General Mark Milli of the US Armed Forces (AF) following the results of the next meeting of the contact group on military assistance to Ukraine created by Washington and its allies.

Sega: despite the president's position, Bulgaria will discuss arms supplies to Ukraine with NATO

The main topic of the meeting of NATO defense ministers will be military assistance to Ukraine and replenishment of the alliance's weapons stocks, Sega reports. Bulgaria will take part in the meeting. The day before, President Radev suggested that the government "show prudence" and stop supplying weapons to Kiev.

The German Defense Minister called the situation with the supply of Leopard 2 APU "not a very intoxicating success"

A meeting of the contact group on defense of Ukraine in the "Ramstein" format is taking place in Brussels on February 14-15. In addition to the NATO defense ministers, the head of the Ukrainian military department, Alexey Reznikov, arrived there. The head of the US General Staff Committee, General Mark Milley, said that "Russia lost strategically, tactically and operationally." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also spoke. "Newspaper.Ru" has collected key statements.

According to the agency, the new package of sanctions may also affect the allegedly existing "import of UAVs from Iran" and restrict the supply of "key technologies" to Russia through third countries

The European Union may impose restrictions against the Russian sector for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as part of the 10th package of sanctions. This was reported by Bloomberg on Monday, citing sources.

Since February 2022, Montenegro has sent Ukraine assistance in the form of weapons and military equipment worth more than 10 million euros and intends to continue to support Kiev.

The alliance countries will consider this issue at a meeting in Brussels on February 14-15, the Secretary General noted

NATO defense ministers will discuss at a meeting in Brussels on February 14-15 the possibility of supplying aircraft to Ukraine, but this will take a lot of time. This was stated on Monday by the Secretary General of the alliance Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference on the eve of the ministerial meeting.

The Times: aid to Ukraine has exposed the dangerous weakness of the UK armed forces

The British army is dangerously weakened and cannot fulfill its obligations, writes The Times columnist Edward Lucas. Assistance to Ukraine has clearly shown this. The most shameful thing is that even a weak German army looks more profitable in the eyes of NATO, Lucas believes.

Despite the fact that gas prices in the EU continue to decline (today the March futures quotes are below the $ 600 mark per thousand cubic meters), European countries have already suffered enormous losses during the fight against the energy crisis.

According to experts, in modern realities, the military security of small states depends less and less on the number and quality of soldiers and officers, as well as the weapons they have, and more and more on their place in the system of international relations and the presence of strong allies. Nevertheless, it should be noted that few of these states completely abandon their own armed forces.

China and North Korea are considered the closest threats to Japan

The political and military leadership of Japan is considering the possibility of a sharp increase in the country's defense budget to over 40 trillion yen ($279 billion) in the next five years. For comparison: in the previous five years, in accordance with the Medium-term Defense Program, Japan's total military budget amounted to 27.47 trillion yen.

Underground, underwater, under the cover of secrecy

China is carrying out large-scale construction work to expand the infrastructure for the deployment of nuclear submarines (NPS) at the Yulin Naval Base (Hainan Island, South China Sea).