| | | The difference between opinion and fact.
BY GEIR MOULSON AND VANESSA GERA
Updated 10:57 AM MDT, March 15, 2024
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BERLIN (AP) — Germany, France and Poland vowed Friday to procure more weapons for Kyiv and step up production of military equipment along with partners in Ukraine, promising that Ukraine can rely on the trio of European powers as it tries to overcome a shortage of military resources.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for a hastily arranged summit of the so-called “Weimar Triangle” of the three countries. The meeting came as Russia votes in an election that is all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
Scholz said he discussed what support is needed now with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
“He knows that he can rely on us, and we are renewing this signal for support for Kyiv from here today,” he said after the meeting. “But a crystal-clear signal also goes to Moscow — the Russian president should know that we won’t let up in our support for Ukraine.”
The German leader said that “starting immediately, we will procure even more weapons for Ukraine, on the overall world market.”
“Secondly, the production of military equipment will be expanded, including though cooperation with partners in Ukraine,” Scholz added. And he said that a new “coalition for long-range rocket artillery” will be set up, underlining a pledge made at a conference in Paris last month.
Scholz gave no details, and the three leaders took no questions. Macron reaffirmed France’s support for a Czech-initiated plan to buy ammunition and shells outside the European Union, but also gave no details. |
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