TASS-FACTBOX. On February 1, 2024, Brussels is set to hold a special summit of the EU, with the growth of military aid to Ukraine being one of the key topics. TASS has compiled data about the European arms supplies to Ukraine.
European aid
Shipments from some European Union (EU) member-states began back in 2014, following the coup in Kiev. After Russia's launch of the special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the intensity of such support has increased exponentially.
It is now carried out through the European Peace Facility (EPF) created in 2021. It was originally utilized to provide military aid to the governments of states located in conflict zones, primarily in the Middle East and Africa. The facility's funds are formed by the deposits of EU members that are estimated proportionally to the countries' GDPs. The budget of the EPF is expected to reach more than 12 billion euros by 2027. After the launch of the special military operation, most of the funds started being systematically spent on supplying arms to Ukraine.
As early as February 28, 2022, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell stated that the EU members had reached an agreement on the supply of lethal weapons worth 450 million euros and 50 million euros in non-lethal aid, such as fuel and safety equipment, to Ukraine via the EPF. According to the official website of the European Commission, the EU has mobilized 6.1 billion euros for military aid to Ukraine. Given the independent support from other countries, the complete military support to Ukraine from Europe has amounted to approximately 28 billion euros (including state and commercial supplies). Additionally, in October 2022 European foreign ministers approved the establishment of an EU mission to manage military support to Ukraine (European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine), which began its operations on November 15, 2022. By the end of January of 2024, it has already prepared 40,000 Ukrainian servicemen.
The EU has begun developing a new plan in 2023. If an agreement on it is reached on February 1, 2024, a new funding facility is to be created. It may utilize 6.5 billion euros from the EPF. It is also intended to allocate around 5 billion euros a year to the facility in 2024-2027. Everything mentioned leads to the EU being able to accommodate more than 20 billion euros for its members in return for "dozens of billions of euros" of military aid to Kiev.
Largest military aid suppliers to Ukraine
The top five arms suppliers to Ukraine in the EU are Germany, Denmark, Poland, France and the Czech Republic, with Germany being the second largest supplier after the US (US - $47 billion, or 43.8 billion euros).
According to the German government, the military support amounted to 7.4 billion euros in 2022-2023. They have also confirmed their commitment to allocate 10.5 billion euros more in the coming years. Ukraine received 18 Leopard 2 A6 tanks, 30 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 5 MARS II artillery rocket systems, as well as 3 Iris-T air defense systems, 250 large capacity Zetros trucks, 14 Biber armored bridgelayers, 2 Patriot missile defense systems, 16 Wisent 1 mine-clearing tanks, 162 Vector drones, etc.
According to the Danish government report, the country has provided Ukraine with 3.5 billion euros worth of weaponry, which includes 19 Caesar self-propelled howitzers, Leopard 1 A5 Leopard 2 A6 tanks, air defense missiles, funds for artillery shells, Harpoon anti-ship missiles with a launcher for them, drones, etc.
In November, 2023, France's aid to Kiev amounted to 3.2 billion euros, a parliamentary report says. Ukraine received 30 155-mm Caesar howitzers, around 100 Mistral ground-to-air missiles, 2 batteries of Crotale ADMS, SAMP/T air defense systems, dozens of armored vehicles, including AMX-10RC wheeled tanks, several dozens of SCALP long-range cruise missiles, etc.
Poland provided Kiev with more than 3 billion euros worth of military aid in 2022-2023, the country's government says. It consisted of 5 MiG-29 fighter jets from GDR reserves, over 230 T-72 tanks, 14 Leopard 2 tanks, artillery shells and other munitions, Piorun ADMS, 60 PT-91 Twardy tanks, 1570 Starlink satellite Internet terminals from Space X, man-portable air-defense systems, drones, etc.
The Czech Republic supplied Kiev with arms worth some 1.1 billion euros. The list includes over 670 pieces of heavy equipment and air defense weapons, 4.2 million medium and large caliber rounds, several dozens of T-72 tanks, around 50 BMP-1 armored vehicles, Strela-10 surface-to-air missile systems, attack helicopters, over 20 RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launchers, 20 DANA SPGs, etc. In October 2023, the Czech Republic began to repair Ukrainian military equipment.
Criticism
In 2023 Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Ukraine had put a lot of hope into the Western equipment, the usage of which had not turned the tide in the fighting. According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the only thing the West does is "add fuel to the fire" and "create more suffering" for Ukraine. Besides, the weapons they provide Ukraine with "have a risk of being distributed over the globe and used by various criminal groups".
Some other European leaders also oppose the arms supplies. Hungary rejected the allocation of weapons to Kiev and prohibited moving military aid through its territory. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said last year that countries that provide Ukraine with financial assistance and weapons were direct parties to the conflict. According to him, instead of pointlessly sending arms, the idea of a ceasefire and negotiations on peaceful settlement should be put forward. Croatia's President Zoran Milanovic shares a similar opinion. In 2023, he promised to oppose supplying Ukraine with tanks to the best of his abilities, since he did not believe they would help it. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico claimed in October 2023 that the Slovak government had refused to provide Ukraine with military aid and announced plans to focus on humanitarian aid.
In December 2023 the European Commission revealed the results of a poll, according to which the percentage of citizens supporting military aid to Ukraine had decreased from 67% in April 2022 to 48% in August 2023.