Bloomberg: EU split over failure to deliver promised to Ukraine on time

Bloomberg: EU split over failure to deliver promised to Ukraine on time

In the countries of the European Union, a debate is still ongoing over the failure to send one million artillery shells to Ukraine on time. The dispute was evidence of a deeper rift between Western and Eastern Europe.

Bloomberg reports this. It is based on interviews with European officials, including those on condition of anonymity.

Diplomats said: “Western Europe will not be forgiven” for Russia winning the war against Ukraine, the countries will no longer be trusted, and the entire project of European integration may be in jeopardy.

One of the reasons for the dispute is the categorical position of a number of Western European states on searching for sources of artillery shells for Ukraine.

For example, France actively insists that related investments must “remain within the EU only,” and this has already slowed down the supply of projectiles. Additionally, Cyprus and Greece, for geopolitical reasons, oppose the purchase of shells for the Ukrainian Armed Forces from Turkey.

All this in Eastern European countries is called evidence that “the West does not seem to understand the necessity of the situation.”

In a Bloomberg commentary, one European official said that if the Russian Federation wins, his country will no longer buy weapons from France, but will instead develop defense partnerships with the United States, Britain and Ukraine, since they are more reliable allies.

Eastern European states also have claims against Germany. Although it is nominally one of the largest donors of military and financial assistance to Ukraine, the German government’s position on supplying the Ukrainian Armed Forces with long-range Taurus missiles “causes irritation in capitals east of Berlin.”