EU plan to send military aid to Ukraine has fallen apart.

 

Politico/Getty.

An EU plan to supply Ukraine billions of dollars worth of military aid has fallen apart. Politico. The original "Kallas Plan", named after the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas, was to send 1.5 million rounds of artillery, but that deal fell apart. The 2nd proposal was for the EU to provide 40 billion euros worth of aid, but was unable to gain support from much of Europe, including Hungary, France and much of Southern Europe. The 3rd proposal was more modest than the 2nd but would cost 5 billion Euros two million rounds of artillery. However, even that plan is in danger as many EU countries are asking that the contributions be voluntary. The reasons cited are a lack of funds, a wish to be more independent from the EU and have the aid delivered bilaterally, to opposing aid in the first place (in the case of Hungary). Kaja Kallas has also been criticized for her efforts and acting more like a Prime Minster than a diplomat. 

My Comment:

When Donald Trump temporarily cut off aid to Ukraine, Europe made a lot of noise about providing aid in amounts that would pick up the slack. Now they can't even get a fairly small artillery shell delivery off the table. Cracks are absolutely starting to show when it comes to support of Ukraine. 

Much of the problem is economic. Many European countries simply don't have the money to keep sending equipment and arms to Ukraine indefinitely. Due to the lack of weapons in Europe and the frankly pathetic stores of weapons they still have, all of these shells have to be made and paid for, and there just isn't much in the budget. 

Some of the problem is apparently Kaja Kallas herself. From what it sounds like she is acting more like a dictator than a diplomat and is trying to tell Europe what to do instead of asking them what they want to do. She got the order wrong, she should have gone to these EU countries first and see what they were willing to give instead of just making demands. 

It's also clear that the EU is a herd of cats and are all pulling in different directions. Hungary doesn't want anything to do with the Ukraine war at all and is a real problem for the pro-Ukraine faction, mostly made up of eastern European countries. Eastern Europe is ready to keep the war going until the last Ukrainian, but all of Europe is having problems with their economies. I don't think anyone is ready for a blank check anymore. 

Thought the UK isn't part of the EU, it would be stupid to ignore that they are willing to pay quite a bit of money to Ukraine even if the EU isn't on board anymore. It's absolutely enough to make up for US aid, given the sorry state of their military. I think all of UK has 40 tanks that are operational. Supposedly Ukraine has 1000 and Russia has at least double that in operation. They can't make up for the US.  

Of course, all of this is pretty much a moot point. Even if Ukraine had gotten the more expensive plan, it wouldn't change much on the battlefield. Best case scenario is that it would delay the collapse, not prevent it. US Aid, UK Aid, EU Aid, none of it matters when Ukraine is out of troops and facing an opponent that absolutely is not.