The EU to the rescue?
The European Union announced Sunday it will send weapons, including fighter planes, to Ukraine as the Eastern European nation battles an all-out invasion from neighboring Russia. The 27-member European bloc had already closed its airspace to Russian planes and barred two Kremlin-controlled media outlets, but the plans to send weapons directly through Brussels is a first.
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“This is a watershed moment,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “The European Union steps up once more its support for Ukraine and the sanctions against the aggressor that is Putin’s Russia. For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack.”
EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell said the bloc would earmark $500 million for EU member states to buy arms for Ukraine.
“We’re going to provide even fighting jets,” Borrell said at a Sunday press conference. “We’re not talking about just ammunition. We are providing more important arms to go to a war.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the EU “they need the kind of fighting jets that the Ukrainian army is able to operate … some member states have these kinds of planes,” Borrell said.
The announcement came after a series of financial sanctions on Russia and other Western nations pledging humanitarian and military aid. President Joe Biden on Saturday announced the U.S. State Department will send $350 million worth of weapons to Ukraine, on top of more than $1 billion in security assistance the U.S. has given to Ukraine over the past year.
More than two dozen countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Sweden, and others all pledged weapons and money to help Ukraine.
Germany’s pledge to send weapons reversed a longstanding policy because the invasion marked a “turning point,” according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The weapons include 500 Stinger missiles and 1,000 anti-tank weapons.
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“It threatens our entire post-war order,” Scholz said. “In this situation, it is our duty to do our utmost to support Ukraine in defending itself against Vladimir Putin’s invading army. Germany stands closely by Ukraine’s side.”
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced her nation will send 5,000 “Pansarskott 86” anti-tank weapons, 135,000 field rations, 5,000 helmets, and 5,000 pieces of body armor to Ukraine. It is the first time Sweden has sent weapons to a country in armed conflict since the Soviet Union attacked Finland in 1939.
