France and Netherlands back plan to buy non-EU ammo for Ukraine
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French President Emmanuel Macron at a press conference after an extraordinary summit of European leaders, at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Feb 26, 2024.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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PARIS – France and the Netherlands backed a plan to buy ammunition outside Europe to get much-needed military equipment to Ukraine faster, with a proposal expected in early March.
The idea of purchasing hundreds of thousands of rounds from several countries was outlined by Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala at an extraordinary summit of European leaders in Paris on Feb 26 aimed at showing support for Kyiv and underscoring Western determination to help it win against Russia.
“The Czech proposal is totally consistent with what we’ve done in terms of artillery,” French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference after the talks. “We have asked non-EU countries to reach solutions. We will participate in this initiative. We are totally open to it. Our only target is efficiency.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters as he left the meeting that his country had agreed to contribute €100 million (S$146 million) to the Prague plan and said he hoped other capitals would follow.
The talks came as Europe’s inability to provide Ukraine with sufficient military equipment has opened a rift between eastern and western nations. The mood in diplomatic circles in the east is that should Russia ultimately win, Western Europe will not be forgiven and the whole European integration project could be jeopardised.
France and other nations have resisted using European Union funds to buy ammunition outside the bloc, with Paris urging that money be spent instead on developing the EU’s own industries.
Russia is already making advances on the battlefield as Ukraine faces shortages of artillery shells and troops after months of stalemate. Russian soldiers are probing Ukrainian defences along the front line, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects Moscow to prepare counter-offensives as soon as the end of May.
Mr Fiala said his country’s proposal could be supported by 15 countries, though he did not name them.
“We estimate that there should be sufficient ammunition production in Europe and Ukraine in 2025, but we need to bridge the period until then,” he said as he left the summit. “The Czech initiative is a way the European states can do that.”
Asked whether the option of sending ground troops to Ukraine was raised, Mr Macron said “everything was discussed tonight”.
“There is currently no consensus to send ground troops in an official and open way,” he said. “But in terms of dynamics, nothing can be ruled out. We will do everything we can to prevent Russia from winning the war.”
Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said before the news conference that sending European North Atlantic Treaty Organisation forces into Ukraine was “an issue that does not exist” for Greece and the great majority of his counterparts.
Mr Zelensky said earlier on Feb 26 that the EU had so far delivered only 30 per cent of the one million artillery shells it had promised by March. The EU already acknowledged at the end of January that it would have to delay the target by several months, just before the bloc overcame opposition from Hungary to agree a new €50 billion support package.
At the same time, more than US$60 billion (S$81 billion) in additional US aid to Ukraine, the country’s main lifeline as it tries to repel Russian forces, remains stalled in Congress, where Republicans are using the issue as leverage to extract concessions on border security and immigration policy.
Czech President Petr Pavel said at the Munich Security Conference earlier in February that his country had identified 500,000 rounds of 155mm shells and another 300,000 rounds of 122mm calibre that could be delivered within weeks if the money was made available. He did not name suppliers.
The Defence Ministry in Prague said on Feb 23 that it is coordinating the efforts and had secured preliminary commitments from Canada and Denmark, as well as other countries that did not wish to be identified.
Group of Seven leaders including US President Joe Biden sought to reassure Mr Zelensky of their commitment in a call on Feb 24, which marked two years since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
Attendees gathered in Paris also included German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, as well as officials from the United States, Britain and Canada.
Mr Macron added that France backs a proposal by Mr Kallas to issue joint EU debt to finance defence. Bloomberg
