Ukraine Wants €120m Loan For Polish Weapons In War With Russia

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Flags of Poland, nan European Union and Ukraine against nan inheritance of nan Palace of Culture successful Warsaw. Credit: Grand Warszawski/Shutterstock

Ukraine is softly moving connected a woody that could nonstop a activity of Polish-made weapons consecutive to nan beforehand lines.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has confirmed that Kyiv is negotiating pinch Warsaw for a €120 cardinal indebtedness to acquisition arms from Poland’s defence industry, successful what could go a exemplary for wartime procurement successful Europe.

Speaking to Ukrinform, Sybiha explained that nan woody would attraction connected instrumentality already proving its worthy successful nan field, including nan Polish-made Piorun man-portable aerial defence systems and nan Krab self-propelled howitzers. Both are already successful Ukrainian hands and person earned coagulated reputations for reliability and effectiveness nether fire.

But Ukraine wants more, and fast

The country, which continues to look relentless Russian attacks, sees nan in installments statement not conscionable arsenic a stopgap but arsenic a longer-term investment. Sybiha hinted that Kyiv and Warsaw could deepen practice by jointly producing weapons connected some sides of nan border.

There’s urgency down nan smiles. Poland has emerged arsenic Ukraine’s main logistics and arms corridor, pinch thousands of Western deliveries moving done Rzeszów and different cardinal routes. But now Poland, too, is looking to go not conscionable a pass-through country, but a cardinal subordinate successful nan European defence game.

And this woody would thief some sides. Ukrainian soldiers get much devices to take sides their territory. Polish factories get guaranteed business astatine a clip erstwhile European rearmament is booming.

The bigger picture: Poland’s subject ambitions

Poland, for its part, is going all-in connected defence. It’s readying to walk much than 4 per cent of its GDP connected its subject and has invested heavy successful home arms production, including hundreds of millions of euros successful caller ammunition plants. It besides signed multibillion-euro deals pinch South Korea for tanks and howitzers, galore of which are being built aliases assembled successful Poland.

This imaginable indebtedness is portion of a larger trend. European countries, including Lithuania and Czechia, are experimenting pinch defence lending aliases co-financing to thief Ukraine limb up without forcing Kyiv to salary everything up front. The thought is simple: fto Ukraine get weapons, conflict pinch them, and fig retired nan payments erstwhile nan warfare ends and rebuilding begins.

Still, not everything’s connected nan table. Ukraine has softly asked Poland for much Soviet-era combatant jets for illustration nan MiG-29s it received past year. But truthful far, Warsaw isn’t budging. For now, nan attraction remains connected ground-based systems and manufacture cooperation, nan benignant that tin scale.

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