Good morning.
Despite ongoing peace talks, seen by some as more a battle of narratives than a real negotiation, Europe is arming Ukraine so it can defend itself and maintain leverage at the negotiating table — as any future agreement will depend on the situation on the ground when the guns fall silent.
On Wednesday (4 February), EU ambassadors finally reached a deal on the €90bn loan to Ukraine, to be financed through common borrowing on capital markets and backed by a “reserve” in the EU budget — so the European Commission can disburse the first payment in April, as some officials pointed out.
Two-thirds of the funding is set to go directly on military spending, while the rest will be used for general budget support.
The deal dragged on longer than expected, held up by debates over the use of EU taxpayers’ to buy weapons from third-countries and France’s push for a ‘Buy European’ clause to favour its defence industry. Now MEPs must give it the green light.
Military equipment should generally come from EU, EEA, or EFTA countries. But if Europe lacks the equipment, has limited stock, or cannot transfer it, Ukraine can turn to third countries.
Kyiv will be able to buy weapons from those with whom the EU has a SAFE defence agreement — including Canada and potentially the UK, which is still in negotiations. The second group is other partners supporting Ukraine, meaning countries that have a defence partnership with the EU and are providing financial or military aid.
This option is however limited to defence items based on Ukraine’s immediate needs, focusing on air and missile defence, ammunition and missiles, drones and anti-drone systems, artillery including long-range precision strike, and strategic support like airlift, refuelling, command and control systems, and space assets.
For example, Ukraine has in the past used US-supplied ATACMS for long-range strikes on Russia. Germany could provide its Taurus missiles, but has so far been hesitant to do so. The UK and France have supplied Kyiv with SCALP/Storm-Shadow missiles, though these are seen as slower and produced in smaller numbers.
Air defence systems are another example, namely the Patriots that Ukraine uses to intercept missiles across its territory. Europe has no equivalent system with sufficient surplus to cover Ukraine’s needs. Systems like French-Italian SAMP-T or Germany's IRIS-T offer partial help but lack the range, capacity, or volumes of US Patriots.
So let’s remember that the global arms industry is dominated by the US, with six of the top ten companies being American, and the remainder in the UK, Russia and China. And let’s also remember that Kyiv probably knows best what it needs on the battlefield. Europe’s job should be to ensure checks and balances so money goes where it’s supposed to — without unnecessary hurdles that slow down critical support.
Elena Sánchez Nicolás, editor-in-chief
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