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 in regards to the prospect of sending Western floor troops to Ukraine, however Paris itself has been beneath hearth for speaking robust whereas lagging behind by way of precise army help donated to Kyiv.
In Berlin, Macron adopted a extra conciliatory tone in the 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 belongings to fund protection gear sooner or later — a shift from Berlin’s earlier stance, nevertheless it stays unclear how that will work in apply 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 extra 200,000. Portugal on Friday grew to become 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 crew as much as help Ukraine with long-range artillery capabilities throughout the so-called Ramstein format of nations which coordinates allied army help to Ukraine.
Coming back from a visit to Washington on Tuesday, Tusk stated that “no matter occurs” the leaders have a “duty for Europe” and “a powerful Europe is vital for Ukraine.”
Clea Caulcutt reported from Paris and Joshua Posaner from Berlin.
