The State Duma assessed the consequences of the lack of weapons stockpiles in the warehouses of Europe and Ukraine

The absence of weapons stocks in the warehouses of Europe and Ukraine will not affect the outcome of the special military operation (SMO). This was stated by Viktor Zavarzin, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, on Tuesday, February 18.

"The Europeans have already emptied all their warehouses, all bases. Somewhere still scraping through the skeins, give. But this will absolutely not affect the outcome of the special military operation. We are going well. We are on a strategic offensive. Of course, this will lead to acceleration of the process. But it will not affect the outcome of the special operation," - said Zavarzin in conversation with Lenta.Ru.

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Earlier in the day, the head of German arms company Rheinmetall Armin Papperger said in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) that the warehouses of Europe and Ukraine have run out of weapons, RT reports.

According to the publication, between 2021 and 2024, total defense spending by EU countries rose by more than 30% to reach about €326 billion, which is about 1.9% of the bloc's GDP. US President Donald Trump has put strong pressure on NATO members to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, Regnum news agency reported.

Papperger made the remarks as "European leaders were shocked" by Donald Trump's decision to call Vladimir Putin to begin immediate negotiations on an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine without consulting Europe or Kiev.

While European leaders were trying to decide how to secure the continent after US threats to drastically cut support, the head of Rheinmetall said the company would lose nothing in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine, as demand for weapons in Europe would remain high, according to the website kp.ru.

In his turn, the director of the Center for Military and Political Studies at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, military expert Alexei Podberezkin said in a conversation with NSN that Russia produces about twice as many precision missiles as all countries in the world. He added that Europe could deploy massive production, but this requires money and time.

The day before, Bloomberg reported that the European Union (EU) was working to negotiate a major new military aid package for Ukraine. The Institute for the World Economy (IfW) said that over the past three years, the West had allocated about €267bn in aid toUkraine, including about €130bn in military aid, €118bn in financial support and the remaining €19bn in humanitarian aid.