State regulation and financing news

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).

According to Pierre Lelouch, European economies, "having experienced the consequences of shutting off the tap of cheap Russian gas and their own embargo on Russian oil," faced an "explosion" in energy prices that passed the Americans.

The United Kingdom is launching a program to upgrade the tank fleet of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. According to the British Ministry of Defense, the final version of the Challenger 3 main battle tank has been agreed.

The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has published on its website a regular report on the events in Ukraine. In the analytical note, in particular, it is reported that the Russian leadership is intensively preparing the country's military-industrial complex for a protracted military conflict in Ukraine.

GT: deliveries of fighter jets to Ukraine will accelerate the development of Russian weapons

It is better for Europe to refrain from sending fighters to Ukraine, Chinese experts told GT. This step will lead to a clash with Russia, weaken Western troops by depriving them of aircraft, and push Moscow to accelerate the development of its own weapons — and more advanced ones.

Bulgarian President Radev opposed additional arms supplies to Ukraine

Bulgaria will not give more weapons to Ukraine, "Capital" quotes the words of President Radev. Sofia insists that the EU must fight for peace. This position isolates Radev from other European leaders and brings him closer to Orban.

The country's authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not supply weapons to participants in armed conflicts due to their neutral status

Switzerland refused Spain's request to allow the supply of two Swiss-made 35 mm anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine. This was reported on Friday by the Keystone-ATS news agency with reference to the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy (SECO), which is responsible for export control.

The US Department of Commerce has blacklisted six Chinese companies associated with the aerospace industry, CNBC reported.