The meeting took place as Russia votes in an election that is likely to extend the government of President Vladimir Putin.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany, France, and Poland agreed this Friday to immediately acquire more weapons for Ukraine on the global market, in addition to creating a new coalition for long-range rockets.
“We will not relent in our support,” Scholz emphasized at the end of his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the format of the Weimar Triangle.
He indicated that the three agreed, among other measures, to “immediately acquire more weapons for Ukraine across the global market,” expanding the production of military equipment, also with partners in Ukraine, and creating within the Ramstein Group “a new coalition for long-range rocket artillery.”
The meeting took place as Russia votes in an election that is likely to extend the government of President Vladimir Putin.
Scholz had said on Wednesday that he discussed what support Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky needs now. “He knows he can rely on us, and today from here we renew this signal of support for Kiev,” he said after the meeting. And he added, “But a very clear signal also reaches Moscow: the Russian president must know that we will not relent in our support for Ukraine.”
The German leader noted, “From now on, we will acquire even more weapons for Ukraine in the global market in general.”
“Secondly, the production of military equipment will be expanded, including through cooperation with partners in Ukraine,” he emphasized, while adding that a new “coalition for long-range rocket artillery” will be created.
Scholz did not provide details, and the three leaders did not take questions. Macron, meanwhile, reaffirmed France’s support for a plan initiated by the Czech Republic to purchase ammunition and projectiles outside the European Union, but also did not provide details.
“We want to help in every possible way here and now so that Ukraine’s situation improves in the coming weeks and months, not worsen,” Tusk said.
Kiev’s forces hope to obtain more military supplies from Ukraine’s Western partners but, in the meantime, they are fighting against a larger and better-equipped Russian army that is exerting strong pressure on some points of the front line in Ukraine.
The European Union’s plans to produce a million artillery shells for Ukraine have fallen short, while aid to Ukraine in the United States is stalled due to political differences.
“This is a serious moment,” Macron analyzed. “A new era is dawning, and we will be there. And the fact that the three of us are united on this day, determined with the same clarity about the situation in Ukraine and determined to never let Russia win and to support Ukraine until the end, is a strength for us, our peoples, our security, and our Europe,” he emphasized.
Germany, France, and Poland are among Ukraine’s key allies. Germany has become the second-largest provider of military aid to Ukraine after the United States and is increasing its support this year, although Scholz has faced criticism for refusing to send long-range cruise missiles Taurus.
