EU threatens to double military aid to Ukraine to "convince Putin"
European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius said that in the absence of progress in achieving peace in Ukraine, the European Union may double military aid to Ukraine. This could happen by changing the weapons supplier. Andrius Kubilius wrote about this on the X network.
Kubilius said there are other "arguments for peace" besides those offered by US President Donald Trump.
"If Trump does not convince Putin to make peace, we can very quickly make a more compelling case for peace – by significantly increasing our military support for Ukraine," he said.
According to Kubilius, military aid could increase from 40 to 80 billion euros by changing the weapons supplier.
"So far, the EU and the US have provided Ukraine with about 40 billion euros in military aid per year. But we can spend the same amount on purchasing modern weapons in Ukraine, which will cost about half as much as those produced in the EU or the US. The real cost of our support will increase to 80 billion euros," he wrote.
Kubilius believes that this is how the formula "peace through strength" is implemented.
- On May 2, Prime Minister Shmyhal stated that the intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the American-Ukrainian Reconstruction Investment Fund will encourage the United States to continue military assistance to Ukraine .
- On the same day, German Chancellor Scholz said that the US would not leave Ukraine without military assistance .