Around half of Western-committed aid to Ukraine does not arrive on time, according to Kyiv, as future security assistance from the country’s biggest backer hangs in the balance.
“At the moment, commitment does not constitute delivery,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Sunday. “Fifty percent of commitments are not delivered on time.”
“Whenever a commitment doesn’t come on time, we lose people, we lose territory,” he added.
Kyiv is dependent on Western military aid to sustain its war effort against Russia, relying on its backers for vital resources like air defense systems, artillery and ammunition. The U.S. is the single largest provider of security assistance to Ukraine, and has dedicated more than $44.2 billion to Kyiv in the past two years.
But a new tranche of funding, worth $60 billion, has languished in Congress amid Republican pushes for tighter border controls in the southern U.S. Umerov said last week that Ukraine’s army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, had discussed the supply of ammunition with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Shortages in supplies like artillery ammunition have restrained Kyiv’s operations, Ukrainian sources have said. NATO countries have struggled to keep pace with demand for ammunition, and the European Union will fail to meet its promise to provide 1 million shells to Ukraine by this spring, EU officials conceded in November.
Ukrainian officials have suggested that delays in the arrival of Western aid supplies hindered Kyiv’s counteroffensive effort last year, giving Russia more time to build up its defenses and mine territory across Ukraine. Kyiv has now entered its third year of all-out war with Russia, contending with a tired military force and Russian offenses at several points along the front line after months of grueling fighting for the Donetsk city of Avdiivka. Russia took control of Avdiivka earlier this month.
“If Ukraine fails because we fail to provide them with security assistance, the costs are high for Europe, for the United States, and for the world—higher than the cost of security assistance today,” a senior U.S. defense official said earlier this month.
“Keeping Ukraine in the artificial deficit of weapons, particularly in the deficit of artillery and long-range capabilities allows [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to adapt to the current intensity of the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on February 17.
On Thursday, Denmark committed a new package of military aid to Ukraine, urging Ukraine’s other backers to send further resources for Kyiv’s war effort.
“We continue to make further Danish donations in the hope that more countries will do the same, not in six or 12 months, but now when the need is very, very big,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said earlier this week.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Saturday that Ottawa would send more than $2 billion in financial and military support to Ukraine throughout 2024.
