Europe can support Ukraine and without US military aid, says a German general/ what are hard to replace American equipment
General Major Christian Freuding Photo: Kay Nietfeld / AFP / Profimedia
Europe is capable of supporting Ukraine's resistance against Russia even though the US would decide to completely cease military support to Kiev, Christian Freuding, responsible for coordinating Germany's weapons, told Reuters.
The European members of NATO, plus Canada have already exceeded the estimated $ 20 billion value of the US military aid last year, which represented about 60% of the total expenses, General Freuding said.
“If there is a political will, then there will be the necessary means”
“The war against Ukraine is ravaging our continent and is also taken against the European Security order. If there is a political will, then there will be the necessary means to compensate to the American support,” said General Christian Freuding in the interview.
Ukraine continues to receive weapons deliveries approved by former US president Joe Biden. It is not clear, however, if its successor, Donald Trump, will approve new deliveries or allow third countries to purchase American weapons for Kiev.
Asked how long Kiev will support the deliveries approved by Biden, Freuding said that this depends on the logistics processes, as well as on the speed with which Ukraine consumes weapons and ammunition, but that until the summer it seems a realistic estimate.
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“The way the US government will treat future military support requests for Ukraine is not clear at this time. We can not say anything in this regard,” he added. “In general, the United States has a major interest in stimulating their own defense industry. I assume that at least the purchase of American defenses and their delivery in Ukraine will be possible,” the German general said.
Regarding the potential threat that Russia could represent beyond Ukraine, Freuding said that Moscow has a clear plan to reconstruct and extend its army and expect it to succeed in efforts to double their ground forces to 1.5 million people.
The Russians “recruit much more personally than they need to replace the herds involved in the Ukraine War. They produce in particular excess ammunition stocks, which they” keep “,” he said. Freuding said that Russia also strengthens its military infrastructure, especially in the Western military district, on the border with Finland, a new member of NATO.
Spare parts, among the problems of Ukraine
Any cessation of fire in Ukraine could allow Russia to accelerate its re-arming efforts before a possible large-scale attack on NATO territory, he said. The alliance believes that this could happen from 2029. “Of course, an armistice could change the situation of threat,” Freuding said.
Germany granted Ukraine a military aid in a total value of 38 billion euros ($ 43 billion), including funds allocated over the coming years, thus becoming the second donor after the United States, according to the Ministry of Defense in Berlin.
Freuding said he does not know that the Trump administration has approved American weapons deliveries to Kiev who have been paid by third countries. However, the compensation of certain crucial parts of the US military support would be a significant challenge for Europe, notes Reuters.
By listing capabilities difficult to replace by Europeans, Freuding mentioned the data of information, supervision and recognition (ISR) services, anti -aircraft defense systems and spare parts for American weapons.
“If we are able to replace the specific capacities (ISR) to a sufficient extent-we must analyze it when we will surely know that Americans will not provide this data,” according to him.
Ukraine uses the information of American secret services to help their anti-aircraft defense, and analysts claim that even to establish their targets.
