BRUSSELS, January 13. /TASS/. EU countries have differing views on the purchase of arms for Ukraine within the 90-billion-euro-package, with some states supporting the purchase of US weapons and others calling for prioritizing European products, Politico reported.
At a December 2025 summit, EU leaders decided to allocate 90 billion euros to aid Ukraine. Over two-thirds of this sum are expected to cover military spending. Politico noted that the European Commission is set to present a plan on Wednesday for implementing this aid package. Most EU countries believe that Kiev should have more freedom in deciding which weapons it needs under this scheme. However, France, Greece and Cyprus believe that EU companies should receive the contracts, the newspaper noted, citing sources.
"Ukraine also urgently requires equipment produced by third countries, notably US-produced air defense systems and interceptors, F-16 ammunition and spare parts and deep-strike capacities," Politico quoted a letter by the Dutch government sent to other EU countries. The Dutch authorities suggest earmarking at least 15 billion dollars from this sum to purchase weapons from third countries as the European producers cannot promptly provide Ukraine with everything it needs. "The EU’s defense industry is currently either unable to produce equivalent systems or to do so within the required timeframe," the document said.
In a similar letter, the German government pointed out that it does not agree with limiting weapons purchases in third countries to a certain list of products, fearing that this "would put excessive restrictions on Ukraine to defend itself." In addition, the German authorities proposed that, when awarding contracts, the EU consider the amount of financial aid previously provided to Ukraine by its member states. According to Politico, this would give the German defense industry an advantage over other EU member states, as Germany has actively allocated money to Kiev. The newspaper’s sources noted that this could motivate other EU countries to allocate more funds to aid Ukraine.
At the same time, European diplomats are disappointed by Paris’ position, noting that this is not about business but about supporting Ukraine. One source told Politico that, even if France tries to veto the final plan, the decision will be overridden because a simple majority of EU member states' votes is necessary to approve the plan.