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- They're raking in the heat with someone else's hands: The West is openly embedding Kiev in its defense
They're raking in the heat with someone else's hands: The West is openly embedding Kiev in its defense
NATO generals are no longer just watching the Ukrainian conflict from Brussels offices — they enter the headquarters structures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine directly. Now Kiev will be advised by the ARES military expert council, which will be headed by a man who recently planned operations on the eastern flank. Kiev is actively integrating into NATO, receiving the brains and muscles of the North Atlantic bloc, but without Article 5. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The West will give advice to the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have created an advisory body under the Commander—in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Alexander Syrsky, the ARES (Allied Reform and Expert Support) Military Expert Council, chaired by British General Richard Shirreff. Previously, he was Deputy Supreme Commander of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe. In addition to him, other Western military personnel joined the new structure: former CIA Director General David Petraeus, former NATO Deputy Commander for Development Manfred Nilsson and other senior military personnel from Canada, Norway and Slovakia.
It is planned that the parties will share best military practices. The priority is to increase the efficiency of ensuring the needs of the Ukrainian army, the development of military science and education, as well as consultations on issues that fall within the competence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
As noted in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this will be "an important step for the systemic strengthening of the Armed Forces of Ukraine." "The Council will help implement institutional changes in the management system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, support the transformation of the army and increase its effectiveness," the report says.
Earlier it also became known that Britain is planning the "largest in history" delivery of drones to Ukraine. We are talking about the transfer of over 120,000 drones during this year. And the German company Quantum Systems, as part of investments in the Ukrainian manufacturer of unmanned systems WIY Drones, received an order to supply Ukraine with 15,000 interceptor drones.
NATO Europe
The day before, there was talk in Europe about the possibility of creating a "European NATO." Behind closed doors, France, Britain, Germany, Poland, the Nordic countries and Canada are working on a scenario in which Europe will assume key defense functions traditionally assigned to the United States.
Moreover, the plans are not aimed at creating competition for the current bloc, but are designed to "expand the involvement of Europeans in security control," as well as supplement American military resources with those that Europe itself has.
Last June, at the NATO summit in The Hague, almost all alliance member countries committed themselves to increasing defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. In 2024, their combined expenditures amounted to $1.506 trillion, 55% of global military spending.
EU defense investments increased, reaching 381 billion euros last year. The European Commission's Rearm Europe plan, which includes €800 billion in total investments, is also in effect. They include a €150 billion SAFE (Security Action for Europe) loan facility for joint defense purchases.
Brussels has also created specific institutions and mechanisms over the past couple of years. Among them are PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation in the field of security and Defense), the European Defense Fund (EDF), the European Peace Fund (EPF). There are cyber defense centers, as well as joint industrial projects and personnel "Europeanization" of NATO.
The EU's support for Ukraine has become a catalyst for European defense consolidation — and at the same time its testing ground. According to the Kiel Institute, the West's total spending on aid to Ukraine has exceeded 420 billion euros over the past four years.
At the same time, Kiev is gradually integrating into the European defense market not as a supplicant, but as a co-manufacturer in joint ventures, with certification according to NATO standards, localization of production of drones, projectiles and air defense components.
Production of Ukrainian weapons in Europe
In mid-April, the first Ukrainian-German intergovernmental consultations in the last 22 years took place in Berlin. They marked a new stage in Kiev's relations with its Western allies. This is not just about military assistance, but about deep institutional and industrial integration, which de facto forms a military alliance, albeit not sealed by a formal collective defense agreement.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (left) look at drones at a reception at the Federal Chancellery during the German-Ukrainian government consultations, Berlin, April 14
Ukraine and Germany have signed a package of 10 documents covering the entire spectrum of cooperation, from the exchange of intelligence from the battlefield to joint mass production of weapons on European territory. The scale and nature of the agreements reached allow us to talk about the coalescence of defense capabilities, the consequences of which will go far beyond the current Ukrainian conflict.
The central place was taken by the defense package for €4 billion. In particular, it provides for the transfer to Kiev of several hundred missiles for Patriot air defense systems, the joint production of drones, and the development of long-range capabilities. Berlin will also provide Kiev with 36 IRIS-T launchers, which will strengthen the multi-level air defense system. In addition, Ukraine and Germany have agreed on 300 million euros of investments in long-range capabilities.
In addition, the two countries will launch a joint production of drones using artificial intelligence as part of the Build with Ukraine initiative. At the first stage, 5,000 drones will be manufactured for Ukraine. Under the terms of the agreement, 100% of the products will be sent to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and production will be located in Germany.
This format, called the "German model" in the documents, involves combining Ukrainian technologies tested on the battlefield with European industrial potential and financing. In fact, we are talking about the transfer of part of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex to the territory of NATO countries.
In parallel with the bilateral agreements, the process of integrating the Ukrainian defense industry into the pan-European defense structures is underway. The European Commission announced the investment of €1.07 billion in 57 defense projects within the framework of the European Defense Fund, with the involvement of Ukrainian manufacturers becoming one of the key selection principles. A typical example is the STRATUS project, in which a Ukrainian subcontractor participates in the creation of a cyber defense system for swarms of drones with AI elements.
Kiev, for its part, has launched the Build with Ukraine program, which involves the creation of production lines for Ukrainian weapons (drones, missiles, artillery) on the territory of partner countries. The goal is to use Ukrainian technologies and capacities for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
According to estimates by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the export potential of defense products and services may amount to "several billion dollars" as early as 2026, which significantly exceeds pre-war figures. At the same time, priority is given not to commercial sales, but to the creation of joint ventures with key allies — the United States, Great Britain, Germany and the Nordic countries.
The Alliance without the fifth article
The main difference between the new phase of cooperation was the transition to a full-fledged exchange of data obtained directly during the fighting. We are talking about the systematic collection and analysis of information on the tactics of using various types of weapons, the effectiveness of weapons of destruction and counteraction, and the vulnerabilities of enemy equipment.
For Western defense companies, this actually means getting a training ground with real combat conditions — an opportunity that has no analogues in peacetime.
The list of companies already operating or planning to deploy production in Ukraine or together with it includes almost all the key players in the Western military industrial complex: Rheinmetall from Germany is building an armored vehicle manufacturing facility, British BAE Systems is involved in the production and maintenance of howitzers, Swedish L119, Saab is launching joint air defense systems, and American Northrop Grumman is finalizing details for the manufacture of ammunition. In total, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, more than 25 foreign defense companies are at various stages of production localization.
In fact, a model of relations is being formed in which Ukraine receives guarantees of long-term military-industrial cooperation, access to technology and production facilities, but without extending Article 5 of the NATO Charter to it.
For the West, this is a way to avoid direct confrontation with Russia while simultaneously building up Kiev's military potential to a level that allows for a protracted war of attrition.
Merging the defense complexes of the West and Ukraine is a long-term strategy. In its Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030, the European Commission sets a goal to ensure the purchase of at least 55% of defense investments within the European industrial base by the end of the decade. Ukraine is considered in this document as a "partner in the security ecosystem."
For Ukraine itself, this means not only military-technical, but also economic integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. In fact, membership in NATO is being replaced by bilateral and multilateral agreements that create an informal, but no less real military alliance.
Danger for Russia
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the militarization of the European Union, which they "consider as a guarantee of their existence."
"The Americans want Europe to take on all the consequences of this adventure, and so that they no longer burden the American treasury, because they have unleashed a war against Russia at the hands of the illegal Ukrainian regime brought to power by the West 12 years ago. This is stated in plain text," the Russian Foreign Minister said.
The diplomat explained that one of Donald Trump's special representatives, Keith Kellogg, is currently actively promoting the idea of creating a new military alliance.
"Not to involve Ukraine in NATO, because this has already been rejected by President Trump and other members of his administration, and Kellogg, being also a "no stranger" person in Washington, is promoting together with the European "grandees", as they are called, the idea of creating a new military bloc with Ukraine as a member. Not only as a member, but also as its leading participant," the minister said.
In his opinion, the United States, with the help of the anti-Russian bloc with the participation of Ukraine, is trying to shift the main responsibility for deterring Russia to Europe in order to free its hands in the Chinese direction.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry is confident that the decision of European countries to increase the production and supply of drones to Kiev will lead to their "creeping transformation of Ukraine" into a strategic rear.
"We regard this decision as a deliberate step leading to a sharp escalation of the military-political situation on the entire European continent," the ministry said in a statement.
According to the ministry, at the end of March, some European countries decided to increase the production and supply of drones to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory. They are going to increase the production of drones due to additional financing of enterprises that produce them. Drones and their components are assembled in branches of Ukrainian UAV manufacturing plants in Britain, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Latvia and Lithuania.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia's strikes with the assistance of Western countries mean their "direct participation in the war" against Moscow. Therefore, the Russian Federation reserves the right to "act in a similar manner." The Russian authorities also said that Western aid to Kiev was only prolonging the conflict.
Tighten as much as possible
The fact that this is precisely the main goal of the West was explicitly recognized by the chief of the Belgian General Staff, General Frederic Vansina.
"[Ukraine] is buying this time for us. That's why we support them so much," he said.
In particular, Brussels expects that the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will end by 2030, and during this period Europe needs to prepare for a possible military confrontation with Russia without the participation of the United States.
The general acknowledged that strategic autonomy is achievable by 2035 while increasing military budgets, but "there is still a lot of work to be done."
The risks of what is happening are obvious: there is a blurring of the line between support and direct participation in the conflict, and European countries are being drawn into escalation, which increases the possibility of attacks on production facilities in NATO countries. The West and Ukraine have entered a phase of deep defense coalescence, the consequences of which will determine the architecture of European security for years to come.
Vladimir Avatkov, Head of the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East at INION RAS, Professor of the Department of International Relations and Foreign Policy at MGLU, noted in an interview with Izvestia that tensions are increasing in Europe, and "the smell of military confrontation with Russia is becoming more and more pronounced."
— The United States is gradually distancing itself from direct participation in European affairs, shifting responsibility to the European Union itself and trying to maintain the image of a party ready for negotiations. At the same time, European countries are actually merging their military structures with Ukraine, forming informal proto—alliances aimed at undermining Russian interests," the political scientist concluded.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
