The coalition of the interviewees: The West is urgently trying to strengthen Ukraine
With Russian troops advancing and attacks on Ukrainian enterprises escalating, Kiev's allies are looking for ways to strengthen the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In particular, Brussels plans to transfer another €27 billion out of a total loan of €90 billion to Kiev by the end of this year, a European diplomatic source told Izvestia. These funds can be spent not only on European weapons, but it is currently impossible to purchase Patriot complexes for Ukraine, the European Parliament reported. Instead, France agreed to transfer new SAMP/T systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the United Kingdom allowed the assembly of SCALP missiles on Ukrainian territory. But without the help of the United States, European countries will not be able to significantly increase the capabilities of the Ukrainian air defense, experts say.
Europe is cracking down on Ukraine's sponsorship
On the Independence Day of Ukraine, another meeting of the "coalition of the willing" was held in Kiev. The prime ministers of Great Britain and Luxembourg, the President of Moldova, as well as the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, arrived in the Ukrainian capital, where the leaders of Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Estonia and Finland were already present. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz joined online. Vladimir Zelensky took advantage of the arrival of Western politicians: in his speech on the 35th anniversary of Ukraine's independence, he declared "unity with Europe and the United States," and also called Russians and Ukrainians "strangers."
In a statement following the talks, the coalition leaders confirmed plans to send multinational military forces to Ukraine after the conflict ends. They also called on Russia to agree to a ceasefire based on the existing line of contact. Moscow, we recall, opposes the deployment of Western forces in Ukraine.
The Coalition of the Willing also agreed to strengthen the Ukrainian air defense system. France will transfer to Kiev a series of batteries of the ground-based SAMP/T medium-range air defense system of Franco-Italian production, as well as new radar systems. In addition, Paris and Rome agreed to accelerate the supply of Aster 30 interceptor missiles, and also allowed the production of these missiles under license in Ukraine. Britain has focused on offensive weapons: London has agreed to transfer secret data on components for the SCALP rocket to Kiev in order to arrange its assembly in Ukraine.
On August 24, the European Commission allocated a new tranche of €6.1 billion to the country for the purchase of weapons, having previously transferred €11.6 billion. These funds are from a loan of €90 billion divided over two years. By the end of 2026, Kiev should receive another €27 billion from Brussels from this loan, a European diplomatic source told Izvestia. Moreover, this money can be spent on the purchase of weapons from other sources if they are not available in EU countries, Pekka Tovery, head of the Ukraine—EU parliamentary Cooperation committee in the European Parliament, told Izvestia.
— The problem is that the Patriot is not available. All Lockheed Martin products are used to replenish the depleted reserves of the US Armed Forces," Tovery told Izvestia.
In recent months, Ukraine has been actively searching for Patriot systems and missiles for them. In July, US President Donald Trump announced his readiness to transfer a production license to Kiev, but then he clarified that the issue was only "being considered." An attempt to persuade Greece to transfer its Patriots to Ukraine failed. Now the Ukrainian leadership hopes to receive help from the "coalition of the willing."
The SAMP/T and SAMP/T NG systems are capable of hitting ballistic missiles, and the previously reported problems with repelling air attacks have been resolved. However, only about 300 Aster family antimissiles are produced per year for these systems, which is undoubtedly not enough, Vadim Koroshchupov, a researcher at IMEMO RAS, told Izvestia. For comparison, the production of anti-missiles for Patriot complexes is about 2 thousand per year, but this volume was not enough.
Natalia Eremina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, noted in an interview with Izvestia that European countries would not be able to solve the problem of the shortage of air defense systems without the United States. European reserves are largely depleted, and large cash injections are required to replenish them. Washington is still heavily engaged in the Middle East, but even if peace is achieved, the United States will need years to replenish its own ammunition reserves.
The Russian Federation responds to the attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The urgent search for ways to strengthen Ukraine's air defense system is linked to increased Russian strikes. Vladimir Putin said on August 22 that Russia had become more active in targeting Ukrainian enterprises in response to attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on civilian targets in the Russian Federation. In particular, attacks are being carried out on the port infrastructure of Ukraine and its defense enterprises. Retaliatory actions are much more destructive for the enemy. At the same time, Kiev itself opened a Pandora's box by targeting Russian economic facilities, but no turning point in the confrontation with Russia "could not have happened and did not happen," the president said.
In the summer, the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased the number of attacks on civilian targets on Russian territory, and Kiev is not limited to logistics centers of Russian companies. For example, on August 24, a children's center in Krasnodar was attacked by drones, resulting in the death of three children. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are constantly attacking passenger buses and recreation centers. Earlier, seven people were killed in Gelendzhik due to falling debris from Ukrainian drones.
The technological features of military-technical devices and the lack of an adequate response from the West to the crimes committed by Kiev give every reason to believe that the legal lawlessness of the Zelensky regime was approved by its Western curators, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. According to him, Moscow constantly collects data on the war crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and transmits them to international organizations.
"The West, which gives Kiev money and weapons, looks at the "terrorist war" unleashed by it through its fingers and thereby only provokes the arrogant terrorist," the diplomat believes.
Against this background, the negotiation process remains frozen. The last time the delegations of the Russian Federation, the United States and Ukraine met in Geneva was in February. After that, Moscow and Kiev communicated with Washington separately. In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that new ideas are needed for a peaceful settlement. The visit of special envoy of the American President Steve Witkoff and businessman Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kiev was probably supposed to clarify Washington's approaches. However, according to media reports, the trip was postponed.
Russia is ready for a dialogue about peace, but "only on the basis of the realities taking shape on earth," Putin said earlier. On the line of contact, the Russian military continues to advance, gradually liberating populated areas. However, Zelensky, like most European leaders, shows by his actions that they are determined to continue the conflict in the hope of achieving more advantageous negotiating positions for Kiev.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
