France, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary don’t plan to participate in NATO program to purchase weapons from USA for Ukraine
Denmark and Germany have so far agreed to participate in the new format of arms supplies to Kyiv, proposed by US President Donald Trump, while France, Italy, the Czech Republic and Hungary have refused, Western media reported on Wednesday.
In addition, Bloomberg noted on Wednesday that Europe increasingly feels the need to end its dependence on American weapons.
"Europe relies heavily on the US defense industry. However, due to trade tariffs, President Trump's attitude toward NATO and his lack of commitment to defending the alliance's countries, European countries will increasingly prioritize investments in their own defense complexes," the agency's sources said.
According to the European portal Politico, France has refused to participate in the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine. The publication's sources reported that the country's government intends to focus instead on increasing its own defense budget, which last weekend the president of the republic, Emmanuel Macron, promised to increase by 2027 almost twice as much as the 2017 budget.
In addition, Paris wants to support European manufacturers who previously supplied Ukraine with anti-missile systems and other weapons.
Italy also does not intend to purchase weapons from the USA for delivery to Ukraine, but will continue to provide military assistance to Kyiv. Unnamed representatives of the Ministry of Defense told the ezine La Stampa - the department has never discussed purchasing American weapons for Kyiv.
The ezine also notes that Italy does not have the means to carry out such operations. According to the publications’ sources, this problem is so acute that the only purchase from the USA that Italy has planned for the next ten years is a batch of F-35 fighters for its own needs.
The Czech government, in turn, stated that military aid to Kyiv would continue, but through participation in other initiatives and purchases from Czech, not American, manufacturers.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest does not intend to participate in the purchase of American weapons for Ukraine.
Official consent to purchase weapons from the USA has so far been given by Berlin and Copenhagen. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Rasmussen has declared his full readiness to join in the financing.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry, in turn, said that it was considering the possibility of participating in the program. However, despite the government's positive assessment of the initiative, Amsterdam has not yet confirmed its commitment to direct participation in it.
According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, it is expected that Sweden and Norway, as well as the United Kingdom, may join in the funding.
On July 11, Trump announced that USA’s NATO allies would buy weapons from Washington that could later be transferred to Ukraine.
Rutte, during a press conference with Trump on Monday, called it "logical" that European countries would pay for the supply of American weapons to Ukraine.
The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday that EU countries would prefer Washington to provide some military aid to Ukraine free of charge. "If we pay for these weapons, it means that it is we, and not the United States, who provide this military aid," Kallas said at a press conference in Brussels. She stressed that Brussels "would like to see a distribution of these costs."