Latvian President told where EU can find promised missiles for Ukraine

Since the European Union is not on schedule to provide Ukraine with the promised one million artillery shells by spring 2024, Brussels should look for ammunition outside the bloc, i.e. in third countries.

This was stated by Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in an interview with Politico.

"We have advocated for a long time that if there is not enough ammunition, or there is not enough equipment in the EU, then let's buy it somewhere else and give it to Ukraine," the Latvian leader said.

According to Rinkēvičs, it is important that Ukrainian defenders continue to repel Russian occupiers on the battlefields and that Ukraine “gets what they need".

The Latvian president also emphasizes the importance of replenishing the EU's arms stockpile and building up defense capabilities.

"Taking into account that we all understand that the war in Ukraine is going to last longer than one could predict a year-and-a-half ago and that we also need to build our capabilities; we must get serious about how the European defense industry works and how we are also addressing this problem," he said.

Rinkēvičs also expressed his concern that the problems in the EU could affect the United States, where the approval of new defense packages for Ukraine is being delayed due to political difficulties.

“Where I'm getting a bit concerned when I talk with Americans” is that they are living “under the impression that Europe is not giving enough” even though “we are actually spending more on Ukraine, if we combine both military and all kinds of programs, than the United States,” the president emphasized.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 17/11/2023