Forward of the assembly, Tusk upped the stakes in tweeting that that what Ukraine wants is “much less discuss and extra ammo,” an obvious rebuke of Macron. The French president has adopted more and more hawkish rhetoric and doubled down on feedback concerning the prospect of sending Western floor troops to Ukraine, however Paris itself has been beneath hearth for speaking powerful whereas lagging behind when it comes to precise navy assist donated to Kyiv.
In Berlin, Macron adopted a extra conciliatory tone in direction of his allies, saying that the three international locations had been dedicated to help Ukraine for “so long as it takes” however “by no means to immediate an escalation.”
Scholz stated the leaders agreed to purchase shells for Ukraine on the worldwide market, ramp up manufacturing and use windfall earnings from frozen Russian property to fund protection gear sooner or later — a shift from Berlin’s earlier stance, however it stays unclear how that will work in follow throughout the EU.
The commitments from Scholz might supercharge efforts to acquire artillery shells for Ukraine within the midst of a provide crunch which has left Kyiv struggling to carry again Russia’s artillery bombardments.
A Czech scheme to finance the acquisition of 800,000 artillery rounds on the worldwide market has already gathered sufficient funding from a coalition of capitals to acquire 300,000 shells and negotiate over an additional 200,000. Portugal on Friday turned the most recent state to affix with a €100 million contribution.
The German chancellor additionally stated in Berlin {that a} new coalition of nations would workforce as much as help Ukraine with long-range artillery capabilities inside the so-called Ramstein format of nations which coordinates allied navy assist to Ukraine.
Getting back from a visit to Washington on Tuesday, Tusk stated that “no matter occurs” the leaders have a “duty for Europe” and “a robust Europe is essential for Ukraine.”
Clea Caulcutt reported from Paris and Joshua Posaner from Berlin.
