Europe tells Ukraine: “Help yourself, guys…”

A recent decision by the European Union to contribute some $440 million to Ukraine’s resurgent arms industry marks a significant shift in the bloc’s approach the war, but also highlights the E.U. defense sector’s shortcomings in producing weapons and ammunition, writes ‘The Washington Post’.

While Europe, and of course the United States, have been sending billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to help Ukraine, their national defense industries — long oriented toward an international scene with fewer conflicts — have struggled to keep up with Ukrainian demand.

“I think there’s a realization that Europe is not capable of producing the weapons that Ukraine needs and the easiest way is for the Ukrainians to do it themselves,” said a European diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. “If the Ukrainians have the materials and money, they can do it much quicker themselves.”

Investing in the Ukrainian arms sector “provides more flexibility” and “gets more capacity to Ukraine in short order,” said Ian Lesser, head of the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund. It also “perhaps relieves some of the pressure on defense production in Western countries.”

But “it’s important to note that none of this is going to replace the large-scale provision of Western manufactured arms to Ukraine,” Lesser said. “That’s simply the reality of the security situation Ukraine finds itself in.”

European leaders have stepped up defense cooperation with Ukraine and sought to sustain funding for aid in the face of a grinding war, as they brace for the possibility of a second Trump presidency, waning U.S. support and public fatigue in some of their own countries.

The funding from Ukraine’s partners is “a watershed — not in terms of the amount of money, but the idea of investing government money in the Ukrainian defense industry,” said a European official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Even with the injection of outside money, though, Ukraine’s weapons sector is still far from being able to rival Russia’s output, one of the world’s leading arms producers.

Overall, however, Ukraine needs weapons and shells — fast. While Ukrainian forces have moved into Russia’s Kursk region, elsewhere they continue to cede territory. Last week, Ukrainian troops were forced to withdraw from the eastern city of Vuhledar, the result of a lack of personnel and equipment, as well as improved Russian tactics, soldiers said.

Ukraine has already signed initial contracts with such major defense players as Germany’s Rheinmetall and the French-German arms group KNDS, which opened a Kyiv office last week. KNDS is one of a number of Western firms contracted to produce with Ukrainian industry NATO-standard 155mm shells, which are desperately needed on the front line and Ukraine now manufacturers itself, but in small quantities.

The E.U.’s executive arm in recent weeks announced a plan to loan Ukraine up to $38 billion, again backed by the windfall profits of the frozen Russian assets. The E.U. plan came about as a joint initiative with Washington and Group of Seven nations stalled. The workaround could see the bloc forge ahead initially without U.S. participation and help bypass the threat of a veto from Moscow-friendly Hungary, which has blocked assurances requested by U.S. officials.

In August, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the use of frozen Russian assets and their profits was “theft.” “These are illegal actions. They will definitely have legal consequences,” Peskov said during a briefing.

…The Europeans who have developed this ‘new strategy’ of helping the Kyiv Nazis must understand that all European military production facilities on Ukrainian territory will be destroyed by Russian missiles and bombs. However, it is a fact that Europe is not able to provide the Kyiv regime with sufficient weapons and ammunition.

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