The allied armaments directors meet from September 27 to 29 in Brussels to better coordinate their purchases, in particular to restore kyiv. Cooperation that does not prevent tightness.
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From September 27 to 29, in Brussels, a gathering as discreet as it is strategic must take place between the main officials of weapons acquisitions of Western countries. During these three days, various discussion formats must be linked: first at the NATO headquarters between Allies, on September 27, then under the aegis of the United States between the countries of the “Contact Group” which coordinates the Logistics of arms deliveries to Ukraine on the 28th, and, finally, under the leadership of the European Union (EU) on 29. So many circles of exchange and funding mechanisms officially tense towards one objective: a better Coordination of public weapons purchases, in particular to replenish kyiv.
“I hope that at the end of this session, we will be much more ready [and] able to work together,” said a senior American defense on September 23, quoted by the specialized media Breaking Defense . The discussions aim at two priorities, according to this official: the acquisition of “interchangeable systems”, that is to say modifiable to fill the shortcomings of Ukrainian capacities, and a support strategy to ensure that these same equipment remains in a state of walks for war.
But if the time is for cooperation, the Ukrainian conflict has indeed rekindled the old United States-EU rivalry in armament acquisition; 60 % of EU acquisitions are now made outside Europe. “We must not hide that there is a real industrial rivalry, we must play all our European assets without institutional quarrels,” said Claude-France Arnould, former director of the European Defense Agency (AED), Advisor within the French Institute of International Relations.
“The United States is pushing the EU to strengthen the industrial capacities [factories and personal] of European defense, because it is worried about the current drying up of armaments in Ukraine”, nuances a diplomatic source. Particularly because American capacities are not necessarily in better condition than those of Europeans, as demonstrated by the recent purchase by Poland of hundreds of tanks and other equipment in South Korea.
Encourage investments in European industry
Sign of ambient tightness, only the United States has, for the time being, officially announced the meeting of directors of armaments under their aegis in Brussels, of which this is the first edition. A meeting where they arrive in force, when the State Department announced, on September 8, its intention to unlock some $ 2.2 billion (2.29 billion euros) to “help” allies and countries Neighbors of Ukraine having provided weapons against Russia, to buy American military equipment. This aid is added to a credit line of more than $ 700 million opened at the end of April, or nearly 3 billion in total.
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