EU searching out Ukraine aid slackers – FT
Brussels is auditing EU nations to see how much military assistance they have provided to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Some member states have accused others of slacking in their efforts to support Kiev.
The External Action Service (EEAS) is conducting a tally of weapons sent to Ukraine since hostilities with Russia started in February 2022, three EU diplomats told the British newspaper.
According to the officials, the review is based on submissions from member states, some of which are reluctant to provide complete data.
The diplomatic service is reportedly seeking to present its findings before the February 1 summit of EU leaders, where the agenda contains revisions to the bloc’s multi-annual budget, including funding for Ukraine.
Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz complained that arms supplies pledged to Ukraine by most EU members are “by all means too small” and urged others to step up.
Ukraine is facing a shortage of hardware and funding after its Western-backed counteroffensive against Russia last year failed to produce serious land gains and resulted in heavy losses, according to Moscow. Opponents of continued assistance on both sides of the Atlantic are currently blocking over $110 billion in proposed aid.
Officials in Kiev are calling on donors to unfreeze the funding as soon as possible, claiming that the cost of a Russian victory would be far greater than whatever Ukraine requests. “If the West is not able to stop Russia in Ukraine, who else is it able to stop in other parts of the world?” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told ABC News in an interview on Monday. The diplomat vowed that Ukrainians “will fight with shovels” if necessary.
Moscow has said continued Western arming of Ukraine simply prolongs the fighting instead of nudging Kiev to return to the negotiating table, and cannot change the outcome of the conflict.
“Our position remains the same: we are prepared to negotiate, but if the realities on the ground and our well-known position and interests are taken into account,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview last year, commenting on a lack of peace talks.
