On July 14th, the United States unveiled a new plan titled “Rearming Ukraine,” which involves the NATO-US alliance providing weapons to Ukraine through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with NATO paying for these weapons.
According to foreign media reports, five NATO countries have already expressed their refusal to join this initiative.
French officials, two of whom are aware of the situation, revealed that France would not contribute funds to purchase American weapons and provide them to Ukraine, as French President Emmanuel Macron has consistently advocated for European countries to establish their defense industries through local procurement.
The Ministry of Defense stated that Italy will continue to provide military support to Ukraine, but the weapons supplied will be those produced either in Italy or in Europe. Italian media reported that due to budget constraints, Italy plans to only acquire a single batch of F-35 fighter jets from the United States within the next decade.
Prime Minister Fiala also made it clear to the media that Czechoslovakia will not participate in this plan at this stage, instead focusing on supporting Ukraine in other ways.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto stated that Hungary’s financial resources, weapons, and soldiers would not flow to Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Sikorski suggested that Hungary should use assets frozen by Russia to purchase US-made weapons for Ukraine, rather than using NATO member countries’ own funds.
The Russo-Ukrainian conflict has drawn multilateral competition.
