INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
European countries to pay 430 million euros for weapons to Ukraine
The announcement comes as Ukraine deals with a growing corruption investigation that has intensified pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government
Several member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will jointly provide a military package worth 430 million euros to Ukraine, according to the organisation’s Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden are expected to finance the package through Ukraine’s Priority Requirements List programme. The programme was approved in September, allowing the United States to supply weapons while European members bear the costs.
US President Donald Trump has frequently criticised his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, for granting large military aid packages and described Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “the greatest salesman in the world”. He has also insisted that NATO’s European members bear the main burden of supporting Ukraine.
Earlier this week, the US president once again claimed that the United States had spent $350 billion on the war in Ukraine and that the United States would no longer allocate such funds. “Now they will pay us back through NATO,” he said.
The announcement comes as Ukraine deals with a growing corruption investigation that has intensified pressure on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau charged seven people, including Zelenskyy’s former long-time business partner Timur Mindich, with bribery and embezzlement in the energy sector, which is heavily funded by aid from imperialist countries. The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called on Ukraine to tackle corruption “very quickly”, saying that “people’s money must go to the front line”.
Russia has accused Ukraine’s European supporters of prolonging the conflict at the cost of Ukrainian lives, claiming that they are unwilling to recognise the failure of their strategy.
