Ukraine’s ambassador to NATO on Wednesday urged European allies to step up purchases of US weapons for Kyiv, as only Washington can supply key capabilities required to counter Russia’s assaults.
“European NATO member states are not able to substitute either by types or by volume or speed of delivery,” ambassador Alyona Getmanchuk told AFP.
“It’s not that we prefer American weapons over French or German or some other European weapons — the issue is that we are asking the US for weapons which European countries can’t provide.”
The appeal from Kyiv’s envoy to the Western military alliance comes ahead of a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine in Brussels next week.
European nations have been buying US arms for Ukraine under a scheme hatched by President Donald Trump and NATO chief Mark Rutte in July.
So far weaponry worth $2 billion has been funded and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants to supplies worth $1 billion to flow each month.
Kyiv has said it is particularly relying on the United States for vital air defences and longer-range missiles as Russia has stepped up its aerial bombardment of Ukraine.
“US weapons remain crucial,” Getmanchuk insisted, saying Kyiv hoped to finalise funding for a further billion dollars of weaponry at the meeting next week.
She said that Moscow had already started “intensive attacks” on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter and had expanded its assaults to target gas facilities, electricity production and the railway network.
The programme for Europe to buy US weaponry for Ukraine came as Trump has grown frustrated with Russian President Vladimir Putin for stalling on peace efforts.
Despite the shift from Trump, Washington has still essentially stopped paying for weapons for Ukraine itself and shifted the burden squarely onto Europe’s shoulders.
Kyiv in the meantime has massively ramped up its own production — especially in drone manufacturing — and says it is currently producing 40 percent of the weaponry it needs.
Getmanchuk said she had no further information on reports that Trump was now mulling supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles that could strike deep inside Russia.
But she said “an important point here is to make clear to the Russians that everything is possible. Every option is on the table.”
“Air defence is crucial, but in the end of the day, it’s like painkillers and in order to strike a source of the pain, we need deep strikes,” she added.
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