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NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting, the head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, emphasized that the NATO countries should jointly increase weapons production so that Ukraine has the means to defeat Russia. The Alliance must use all its potential to provide the Ukrainian military with firearms for at least the next two years. He added that the combined economic power of the Alliance is 30 times greater than Russia's.
The European union has delivered about 300,000 of its promised million shells to Ukraine so far, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on November 29 while attending a Nato meeting in Brussels. Speaking to reporters on the event's sidelines, Kuleba called for greater alignment of Ukraine's and Nato's defence industries to ensure Kyiv has the supplies it needs to defeat Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Hungary categorically refuses to provide military aid to Ukraine at any time. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, said that Budapest will not provide military support to Kyiv "so as not to continue the war."
Ukraine’s partners will provide additional military aid. To survive anticipated aerial attacks this winter, Germany will send an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. Meanwhile, Canada will spend about $50M on the purchase of small arms and ammunition for Ukraine. The package includes 11,000 assault rifles and machine guns and more than nine million cartridges for them. In turn, the Finnish government wants to increase aid to Ukraine by €95.7M. This is the maximum amount authorized for the purchase of military equipment for the country’s armed forces for the years 2024-2028 (to replace weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine). Denmark will increase military support to Ukraine by more than $336M this year and approve the allocation of an additional $3.45B for 2025-2027. Moreover, Lithuania plans to approve a three-year plan for military and other aid to Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense of Germany has given assurances that the €100B special fund for strengthening defense capabilities will not be affected by the problems with the country's budget caused by the €60B shortfall.
Ukraine will continue to increase the capacity of the military industry and will order almost ₴200B in weapons from domestic manufacturers. In 2024, Ukraine’s military-industrial complex will increase its production capabilities by 500% compared to the current year. However, this is still insufficient to cover the military’s needs, said Oleksandr Kamyshin, Minister of Strategic Industry. According to him, Ukraine will continue to depend on external supplies from partners, but the president's task is to increase domestic production capacity further and buy everything these suppliers can produce. At the same time, Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov emphasized that providing the Armed Forces with internally sourced weapons is a priority. At the same time, one of the main priorities of the 2024 defense budget is missile weapons and ammunition, with an approximate ₴175B budget. Another priority is the repair of damaged military equipment and the purchase of spare parts. Also, more than ₴190B will be devoted to contracts with the domestic military industry, said the Ukraine Ministry of Defense.
Czechia turns to export licenses as arms for Ukraine run low. Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said her country would compensate for the low supply by providing commercial licenses to private companies.
33 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com