Paris will not join the initiative to buy American weapons because of President Emmanuel Macron’s desire to achieve the development of the European defence industry in the first place. Politico writes about it with reference to two French officials.
The French government is also trying to increase its own defence spending in an attempt to cut budget spending and reduce its staggering deficit.
France’s position on the issue differs from Germany’s. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz welcomed Trump’s initiative, while Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has already discussed with the US Defence Secretary the sale of Patriot air defence systems to Germany for transfer to Ukraine. Politico, citing German officials in general, calls the whole scheme proposed by Trump an originally German idea.
Merz, according to the publication, believes that buying American weapons is the only way to quickly provide Ukraine with the necessary armaments. The scheme was also supported by the Netherlands and the UK, among others, as well as a number of other countries.
In addition to France, Hungary, which does not supply Ukraine with weapons at all, and the Czech Republic, which, on the contrary, actively supports Kiev, are among those who currently do not intend to participate in the purchase of weapons from the USA for Ukraine. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that Prague would focus on “other ways” to help Ukraine. According to the La Stampa newspaper, Italy will not join the initiative either.
The media estimate the possible volume of arms deliveries from the USA with the help of NATO allies at 10 billion dollars. It is known that Patriot systems in particular, as well as ammunition and missile weapons are to be supplied. Donald Trump at the same time rejected the possibility of transferring long-range missiles to Ukraine and said that he did not support strikes against Moscow.
Trump’s statement on assistance to Ukraine, although generally welcomed in the EU, still caused mixed reactions. In particular, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in expressed the opinion that Washington should “share the burden” of supplying arms to Ukraine.
“If you promise to provide weapons, but say that someone else will pay for them, then in fact you do not provide them,” – quotes Kallas agency France Presse.
On 14 July, US President Donald Trump said during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that he planned to provide Ukraine with weapons worth “billions of dollars” to be purchased by NATO. He named Patriot air defence systems among the military equipment planned to be provided to Ukraine.
At the same time, Trump said he was “not happy” with Russia’s policy, which has recently stepped up air attacks on Ukraine. He said the US plans to impose 100 per cent secondary duties if a peace agreement is not reached within 50 days. Europe welcomed the announcement but believes that 50 days is a long time.