Brussels: NATO has started coordinating regular deliveries of large weapons packages to Ukraine after the Netherlands said it would provide air defence equipment, ammunition and other military aid worth 500 million euros (USD 578 million).
Sweden also announced Tuesday it would contribute USD 275 million to a joint effort along with its Nordic neighbours Denmark and Norway to provide USD 500 million worth of air defences, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and spare parts.
Two deliveries of equipment, most of it bought in the United States, are expected this month, although the Nordic package is expected to arrive in September. The equipment is supplied based on Ukraine’s priority needs on the battlefield. NATO allies then locate the weapons and ammunition and send them on.
“Packages will be prepared rapidly and issued on a regular basis,” NATO said Monday.
Air defence systems are in the greatest need. The United Nations has said that Russia’s relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians.
Russia’s bigger army is also making slow but costly progress along the 1,000-kilometre front line. Currently, it is waging an operation to take the eastern city of Pokrovsk, a logistical hub whose fall could allow it to drive deeper into Ukraine.
European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment they plan to send from the United States, which has greater stocks of ready military materiel, as well as more effective weapons. The Trump administration is not giving any arms to Ukraine.
The new deliveries will come on top of other pledges of military equipment.
The Kiel Institute, which tracks support to Ukraine, estimates that as of June, European countries had provided 72 billion euros (USD 83 billion) worth of military aid since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, compared to USD 65 billion in US aid.
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that “American air defence systems and munitions, in particular, are crucial for Ukraine to defend itself.” Announcing the deliveries Monday, he said Russia’s attacks are “pure terror, intended to break Ukraine.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands, posting on social media that “Ukraine, and thus the whole of Europe, will be better protected from Russian terror.”
He said the deliveries are coming “at a time when Russia is trying to scale up its strikes. This will definitely help protect the lives of our people!”
Germany said Friday it will deliver two more Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine in the coming days. It agreed to the move after securing assurances that the US would prioritise the delivery of new Patriots to Germany to backfill its stocks. These weapon systems are only made in the US.
As an organisation, NATO provides only non-lethal assistance to Ukraine, like uniforms, tents, medical supplies and logistics support. The 32-nation military alliance has mostly sought to protect NATO territory from possible Russian attack and avoid being dragged into a war against a nuclear power.
But its support role has expanded since US President Donald Trump took office in January, even as his administration insists European allies must now take care of their own security and that of their war-ravaged neighbour. Trump has made no public promise of weapons or economic support for Ukraine.
Trump said July 28 that the US is going to be sending military equipment and other equipment to NATO, and they’ll be doing what they want, but I guess it’s for the most part working with Ukraine.
AP