A senior European official said on Thursday 3 March that the delivery of lethal equipment from Europe to Ukraine, undergoing invasion from Russia, did not make it a belligerent in the conflict.
“We are not Russia’s enemy, we are Ukraine’s friend. It is not the same thing. We cannot be considered as belligerents by providing Ukraine with self-defence equipment”, he explained. According to him, the law of war does not qualify a country that delivers arms to another country that is defending itself as a belligerent.
Member States decided on Monday 28 February, for the first time ever, to finance lethal equipment for Ukraine through the European Peace Facility (EPF) to the tune of €450 million (see EUROPE 12900/1). €50 million is also allocated to non-lethal equipment, again under the EPF. The EU Council had agreed in December to a €31 million assistance measure for Ukraine (see EUROPE 12845/20).
According to this senior official, “nothing has been delivered yet” regarding this previous package.
The EU has also set up a coordination mechanism to analyse the differences between Ukraine’s requests and Member States’ offers.
“We can identify what the priorities are, where the gaps are, where to focus efforts”, explained the senior official, while making it clear that the mechanism has no authority over the Member States. Asked about the equipment requested by Kyiv, he declined to comment, saying that the requests could either reveal weaknesses or tactical choices.
The senior official said that the coordination mechanism holds a daily coordination meeting with representatives from the Member States, but also from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. This is the first concrete action with London in the field of security and defence since Brexit.
These meetings allow for “mutual exchanges to understand what everyone is doing and to analyse coherence”, he said.
Third countries can also contribute financially to the EPF, which would lower the amount of the Member States’ contribution. Similarly, countries that do not fund the purchase of lethal weapons (Ireland, Austria and Malta) will be required to make an equivalent contribution for expenditure on the non-lethal component.
The official also explained that no personnel will accompany the equipment delivered. Otherwise, this would constitute involvement on the ground and introduce ambiguity about participation in the conflict, “which is not the case”.
“The transmission of equipment and knowledge (on how to use the equipment) will be done in another way”, he explained. Moreover, he said, if Europe itself were to transport equipment or send soldiers, they could be considered belligerents. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)