The Ukrainian president affirms it: the capital holds good. As the battle for Kiev continues, Volodymyr Zelensky assured this Saturday that his Western partners would deliver new weapons to Ukraine. “A new day has begun on the diplomatic front, with a conversation with Emmanuel Macron. Weapons and equipment from our partners are on their way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working,” wrote the Ukrainian head of state on Twitter. Faced with the second most powerful army in the world, the leader has no choice but to ask for help. While the master of Kiev did not specify the origin of the weapons en route to Ukraine, the Netherlands announced later in the day its intention to supply missiles and military equipment to Ukraine, the demand from their European neighbour.
“The Netherlands has very recently received additional requests for military equipment from Ukraine,” the Dutch Ministry of Defense said in a letter to the Dutch parliament. The politician clarified that the country “will supply 200 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine as soon as possible”. “The planned delivery of military goods was and is intended for Ukrainian self-defense against the armed attack by Russia,” the letter reports. “The Ministry of Defense shipped this Saturday part of the goods already promised”, including sniper rifles and helmets. The ministry added that “other goods will be dispatched as soon as possible, but the Netherlands, like other countries, is facing logistical challenges.” Aid aimed at bailing out the poor Ukrainian army in terms of its air defence.
The Ukrainian forces rely on Soviet equipment, but also on some equipment delivered since 2014, then 2021, under American, Polish, Czech or British licenses. “We must not underestimate the will of the Ukrainians to fight and their capacity for individual response, underlined in L’Express Mathieu Boulègue, researcher specializing in Eurasia at Chatham House, a London think tank. To help them in In this way, other European countries have announced the shipment of arms, like the Czech Republic, which is going to donate machine guns, automatic and precision rifles, pistols and ammunition to Ukraine, to worth 7.6 million euros, the Czech Defense Minister announced on Saturday.In detail, these weapons would include 30,000 pistols, 7,000 assault rifles, 3,000 machine guns and several dozen sniper rifles as well as a million cartridges.
2000 machine guns supplied by Belgium
This donation will be sent to Ukraine “within the next few hours”, she added. Still in Europe, Belgium is also present on the military side. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Twitter this Saturday: “Ukraine has asked Belgium to provide large quantities of fuel for the supply of Ukrainian troops. Our country is responding to this question. is a total of 3,800 tons of fuel. Belgium will also supply the Ukrainian army with 2,000 machine guns. Further analysis is underway.” On the French side, Paris has so far sent non-lethal equipment.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian promised Ukraine “support in military equipment”. He said France was currently looking at “a whole list of equipment” that will be sent there, he claimed. This Saturday, the head of French diplomacy added: “Today I confirmed to my Ukrainian counterpart that we are accelerating our efforts to support Ukraine.” So far, France has mobilized in the NATO framework. The spokesperson for the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Hervé Grandjean, detailed on BFMTV the contribution of Paris to the military reinforcement of NATO around Ukraine. Among the measures announced: the installation of four mirages 2000 which will be stationed in Estonia with around a hundred soldiers from the Air and Space Forces. In addition, men and war material were sent to Norway, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Mediterranean.
Outside Europe: The United States will provide new military aid to Ukraine, amounting to $350 million, to help Kiev fight the Russian invasion, the head of the American diplomacy Antony Blinken. “This assistance will include new defensive military assets that will enable Ukraine to combat the armored, airborne and other threats it faces today,” the US Secretary of State said in a statement. In addition, Turkey is among the supporters of Ukraine according to the Ukrainian president: “I thank my friend Mr. President of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the people of Turkey for their strong support. The ban on the passage of warships to the Black Sea and extremely important military and humanitarian support today. The people of Ukraine will never forget that!”
Note that weapons had already been delivered in recent months from different countries. In mid-January, the United Kingdom and the Baltic States announced the delivery of thousands of Javelin anti-tank missiles. The aim was to increase the capabilities of the army by combining them with the Turkish drones that the Ukrainian army already had. However, as recalled Mediapart, the Ukrainian army has not been trained to properly handle such devices. Through this information, the question also arises of the usefulness of the military equipment sent on the spot.