EUROPE IN STRUGGLE TO ARM KIEV

Another scandal broke out in Europe. The Swiss Ministry of Economy was forced to check reports that Swiss-made ammunition was transferred to Ukraine through a Polish company. Switzerland does not allow countries to which it has sold weapons to re-export them to another country without its consent. On November 16, Swiss media with reference to the American Defense One media outlet reported that more than 145 thousand Magnum Lapua rifle cartridges produced by SwissP Defense were re-exported to Ukraine. The Polish company UMO SP, which specializes in arming the police and special forces of Poland, was blamed for being behind the deal. In addition, 500 thousand rounds of ammunition for assault rifles were sent to Kiev. The supply of shells from Europe has become a problem for Kiev. Brussels promised to provide the Ukrainian military with 1 million 155 mm artillery shells by March 2024. However, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrel recently revealed that Brussels could transfer only 300 thousand such shells. The German Defense Minister became the first high-ranked official to acknowledge that the European Union cannot achieve the set goal on time. The Ukrainian army expends 10-20 thousand shells daily. Kiev says that the country and its Western partners have increased military production, but this is still not enough. According to the Ukrainian Minister for Strategic Industries, all European, American and Ukrainian production capacities, even multiplied, are still not enough to cover the needs of the Ukrainian military. Meanwhile, Brussels is experiencing all new problems with providing assistance to Ukraine. Due to disagreements with Kiev, Budapest has been blocking the allocation of €500 million from the European Peace Facility for several months. Budapest also warns that any financial assistance to Ukraine should go separately from the general EU budget, and the union needs a new strategy for Ukraine.