WEAPONS LOBBY – 14. Ukraine asks “More Military Aids” after US Stop. UE begins an Inquiry on Supplies
In the cover image, the SkyGuard Aspide anti-missile system, supplied by EU to Kiev and built by the MBDA consortium participated by the British BAE and Italian Leonardo corporations, beside a international dossier on military supplies’ to Kiev
by Carlo Domenico Cristofori
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has warned that “time is running out” for US lawmakers to approve additional military aid to Kiev, claiming that costs for Western nations will be far higher if Russian forces are allowed to defeat the former Soviet republic, according to RT (Russia Today).
Providing more money and weapons to Ukraine will help the US and its NATO allies avoid a direct confrontation with Russia, Kuleba said in an ABC News interview posted on Monday. “Whatever the price of supporting Ukraine is now, the price of fixing the mess in the world if Ukraine loses will be much, much higher,” he added.
$61.4 billion in Military Aids Stalled in Washington
Washington, the biggest sponsor of what some US politicians have called a “proxy war” in Ukraine, has run out of money for Kiev after burning through $113 billion in congressionally approved aid packages. President Joe Biden’s latest funding request, which includes $61.4 billion in additional military and financial assistance for Ukraine, has stalled because of increasing opposition from Republican lawmakers.
Senator J.D. Vance and other Republican critics have argued that Biden lacks a strategy for victory in Ukraine and is merely prolonging the bloodshed by continuing to send aid.
Kuleba claimed that a Russian victory in Ukraine would send a dangerous message to other adversaries of the US. “If the West is not able to stop Russia in Ukraine, who else is it able to stop in other parts of the world?” he asked. The diplomat vowed that Ukrainians “will fight with shovels” if they run out of weapons.
Asked about drone attacks in Moscow’s territory, the Ukrainian FM said it was important to show that the conflict was having an adverse impact on the Russian people. “President Putin must explain to his people why all of this is happening,” he said.
Kuleba also brushed off a report last week showing that an internal Pentagon investigation found the US had failed to properly track more than $1 billion worth of weaponry sent to Ukraine. “Everything you give to us is used for the best purpose of ending this war with Ukraine’s victory as soon as possible,” he said.
The diplomat insisted that reports of US weapons being trafficked from Ukraine to other parts of the world were “fake,”adding “So don’t believe in fakes, believe in Ukraine.”
Financial Times: “Brussels audits EU states’ arms supplies to Ukraine”
«Brussels is conducting an audit of how much weaponry EU member states have provided to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, in response to claims that some capitals have failed to send as much as they could. Western military and financial aid to Ukraine has dwindled in recent months, restricting Kyiv’s ability to defend against Russia’s attacks and launch counteroffensive operations and sparking concern that willingness to help Ukraine is ebbing after almost two years of war».
Financial Times wrote in the latest days.
This verification takes place while the Pentagon discovered that it had “lost” missiles, drones and other armaments destined for Kiev for the astronomical value of one billion dollars, just as US-made rocket launchers were found in the hands of Palestinian Hamas terrorists…
But the German newspaper Der Spiegel also reported that the German authorities were able to carry out only two checks on the numerous supplies that occurred from 2022 to today although Germany is one of the countries that has guaranteed the greatest military support to President Volodymyr Zelensky by recording to the most important armaments industry, Rheinmetall, a 53% increase in share value in just one year!
But the German newspaper Der Spiegel also reported that the German authorities were able to carry out only two checks on the numerous supplies that occurred from 2022 to today although Germany is one of the countries that has guaranteed the greatest military support to President Volodymyr Zelensky by recording to the most important armaments industry, Rheinmetall, a 53% increase in share value in just one year!
Italy Halts Bombs for UAE-KSA used in Yemen. Years after Protests against BlackRock’s Fundings
The EU’s diplomatic service, the External Action Service (EEAS), is conducting the audit of weapons supplied by member states since Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, three EU diplomats briefed on the plans told the FT.
The EEAS aims to present the findings to capitals before a summit of EU leaders on February 1. The audit will rely on submissions from member states in response to requests from the EEAS — which has already met resistance from some countries reluctant to provide complete data, according to one of the diplomats.
The decision to conduct the audit follows a demand from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week that countries’ military deliveries to Kyiv be tallied up and compared.
“The arms deliveries for Ukraine planned so far by the majority of EU member states are too small,” he argued. “We [also] need an overview of what concrete contribution our European partners will make to support Ukraine this year,” Scholz told reporters last Monday. His comments echoed private remarks made by officials from other EU countries over the scale of military supplies being promised by fellow member states.
Germany has made the EU’s biggest arms pledges by far in terms of value, according to research by the Kiel Institute for The World Economy. At more than €17bn up to October 31 last year, its commitments are worth about five times the value of Denmark’s, the next biggest contributor.
While Scholz’s remarks have been interpreted as a rebuke to other large EU states such as France and Italy whose military pledges are far smaller, his public call for greater transparency was privately backed by senior officials in Brussels who believe some states could provide more weapons to Kyiv at a critical moment in the conflict.
Recommended War in Ukraine: military strategies Missiles from Iran and North Korea boost Russia’s onslaught on Ukraine Some EU countries other than Germany, particularly in the east of the bloc, are also pushing for the expansion of the European Peace Facility (EPF), a joint fund that part-finances weapons shipments to Ukraine, to boost supplies and share the cost burden.
The EPF, which funds defence-related projects in third counties, has not been bolstered since June 2023, and the bloc’s 27 member states have failed to agree on a move to create a dedicated €5bn per year portion for Ukraine.
CIA-GATE – 4. Bulgarian Tea Party: How US Intelligence Supplies Ukraine with White Phosphorus Bombs
“We have to make sure that [the EPF] is back on track and we can use it again for further tranches of support for Ukraine,” said a senior EU diplomat. Without the EPF, “some member states . . . will not give any military support”. Most member states were “very concerned about getting as much [military aid] as possible to Ukraine in these critical months, [to] the front where you see critical developments”, the diplomat added.
Subscribe to the Gospa News Newsletter to read the news as soon as it is published
Carlo Domenico Cristofori
© COPYRIGHT GOSPA NEWS
prohibition of reproduction without authorization
follow Gospa News on Telegram
GOSPA NEWS – WEAPONS LOBBY DOSSIER
CIA-GATE – 3. Fraud Scheme behind Money Theft Involving US Supplies of Drones to Ukraine
How, Why Zelensky’s SBU Tormentors Tortured US Journalist Gonzalo to Death
Why did the US-NATO attacked and splintered Yugo-Serbia, now protecting, supporting a bloody War to keep Ukraine together when, Ukraine like Yugo-Serbia is made up from some half dozen different Nationalities-Territories! Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Byelorussian, Rumanian, Moldovan! If it was Justice delivered in the case of Yugo-Serbia the same Justice must be applied to the Ukraine and split up Ukraine along the Territories, Nationalities, that it is put together! Bring PEACE to Europe, bring JUSTICE to the UKRAINE!