NATO to coordinate deliveries of arms bought from U.S. to Ukraine
Sweden also announced Tuesday it would contribute $275 million to a joint effort along with its Nordic neighbors Denmark and Norway to provide $500 million worth of air defenses, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and spare parts.
Two deliveries of equipment, most of it bought in the United States, are expected this month, although the Nordic package is expected to arrive in September. The equipment is supplied based on Ukraine's priority needs on the battlefield. NATO allies then locate the weapons and ammunition and send them on.
'Packages will be prepared rapidly and issued on a regular basis,' NATO said Monday.
Air defense systems are in greatest need. The United Nations has said that Russia's relentless pounding of urban areas behind the front line has killed more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians.
Story continues below advertisement
Russia's bigger army is also making slow but costly progress along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Currently, it is waging an operation to take the eastern city of Pokrovsk, a logistical hub whose fall could allow it to drive deeper into Ukraine.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment they plan to send from the United States, which has greater stocks of ready military materiel, as well as more effective weapons. The Trump administration is not giving any arms to Ukraine.
The new deliveries will come on top of other pledges of military equipment.
1:54
Trump gives Putin ultimatum for ending Ukraine war
The Kiel Institute, which tracks support to Ukraine, estimates that as of June, European countries had provided 72 billion euros ($83 billion) worth of military aid since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, compared to $65 billion in U.S. aid.
Story continues below advertisement
Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that 'American air defense systems and munitions, in particular, are crucial for Ukraine to defend itself.' Announcing the deliveries Monday, he said Russia's attacks are 'pure terror, intended to break Ukraine.'
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the Netherlands, posting on social media that 'Ukraine, and thus the whole of Europe, will be better protected from Russian terror.'
He said the deliveries are coming 'at a time when Russia is trying to scale up its strikes. This will definitely help protect the lives of our people!'
Germany said Friday it will deliver two more Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine in the coming days. It agreed to the move after securing assurances that the U.S. will prioritize the delivery of new Patriots to Germany to backfill its stocks. These weapon systems are only made in the U.S.
As an organization, NATO provides only non-lethal assistance to Ukraine like uniforms, tents, medical supplies and logistics support. The 32-nation military alliance has mostly sought to protect NATO territory from possible Russian attack and avoid being dragged into a war against a nuclear power.
But its support role has expanded since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, even as his administration insists European allies must now take care of their own security and that of their war-ravaged neighbor. Trump has made no public promise of weapons or economic support for Ukraine.
Story continues below advertisement
Trump said on July 28 that the U.S. is 'going to be sending now military equipment and other equipment to NATO, and they'll be doing what they want, but I guess it's for the most part working with Ukraine.'
—Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Kirsten Grieshaber and David Keyton in Berlin contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
3 minutes ago
- Global News
Conservatives hoping for first seat as two-way race emerges in Quebec byelection
A polarizing figure who railed against pandemic restrictions and wants to break Quebec's consensus on carbon pricing could be days away from claiming a long-coveted seat in the provincial legislature. The stakes are high for Éric Duhaime, the former shock-jock at the helm of Quebec's Conservative party. Despite four years on the job, Duhaime has not yet been able get any members of his party elected. But if he comes out on top in a Monday byelection in the central Quebec riding of Arthabaska, Duhaime's unabashedly right-wing presence in Quebec's national assembly will shift the political landscape in a province that has not elected a Conservative party member in 90 years. 'It could be a huge breakthrough,' Duhaime said in an interview. 'And it could change politics in Canada (through) having a true Conservative party in Quebec.' Story continues below advertisement A two-way race has emerged in the riding between Duhaime and the sovereigntist Parti Québécois, which has been leading in Quebec polls for the better part of two years. The governing Coalition Avenir Québec, which has won the riding easily in every election since the party's founding in 2011, seems poised to suffer its third consecutive byelection defeat amid widespread dissatisfaction with the government of Premier François Legault. Parti Québécois candidate Alex Boissonneault, a well-known former journalist, said voters are looking to his party as the best option to replace the CAQ government in the next Quebec election, set for October 2026. But he concedes that some of his support is coming from people voting strategically against Duhaime. In the fiercely fought campaign for Arthabaska, local concerns have given way to a referendum on the Conservative leader, said political analyst Alain Rayes, a former federal Conservative MP for the region. 'When we talk to people on the ground, it's really, 'We want to give Éric Duhaime a chance,' or, 'We don't want anything to do with Éric Duhaime and we don't want to be the ones who open the door, who roll out the carpet toward the national assembly,'' he said. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Quebec's first premier was a Conservative, and the original Conservative Party of Quebec dominated politics in the province for 30 years after Confederation. The party's support collapsed at the end of the 19th century, however, and conservatives did not form government again until the ascension of Maurice Duplessis's right-leaning Union Nationale in the 1930s. Story continues below advertisement The emergence of Quebec's independence movement and the Parti Québécois in the 1960s created a new divide on the question of sovereignty that would define provincial politics for decades to come, with the Quebec Liberals as the default choice for federalists. It wasn't until the 2018 election of the right-leaning Coalition Avenir Québec – a nationalist party promising not to hold a referendum – that separatism took a back seat as the dominant issue in Quebec politics. It was in this context that Duhaime took the reins in 2021 of the Conservative Party of Quebec, newly reconstituted a little over a decade earlier. Duhaime, formerly a conservative talk-radio host, built up the party's base by tapping into frustration over pandemic health restrictions, and now presents himself as the voice of a growing number of Quebecers who don't see their values reflected by any of the province's four major parties. 'They're all proposing a little bit less or a little bit more of the same model,' said Duhaime, who describes himself as a longtime friend of federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. 'It's the interventionist model. We're elsewhere. We're saying, 'Look, this is over.'' In recent months, Duhaime has kept himself in the headlines by calling for the abolition of Quebec's carbon-pricing system after the federal carbon levy was scrapped in April – a position not shared by any party with seats in the legislature. 'There are several subjects on which there is almost unanimity in the national assembly,' said political analyst Antonine Yaccarini. 'And the Conservative party wants to break that unanimity.' Story continues below advertisement In the 2022 election, Duhaime's Conservatives won nearly 13 per cent of the vote – barely less than any of the main opposition parties. But because of how his support was distributed, he failed to win a single seat. 'We represent more than one Quebecer out of eight and we have zero seats out of 125,' he said. Meanwhile, the Parti Québécois is trying to prove it still has what it takes to form government next year. 'People are extremely disappointed with the CAQ government,' Boissonneault said. 'We are experiencing momentum in the Parti Québécois that it has not experienced for several years.' The sovereigntist party has already won two byelections from the CAQ in the last two years, but has faced questions about its promise to hold a third referendum on independence by 2030, given U.S. President Donald Trump's economic threats. Boissonneault downplayed that pledge this week, saying he thinks voters in Arthabaska understand sovereignty isn't the 'fundamental issue' in this campaign. If the PQ fails to win Arthabaska, Yaccarini said, it could give the impression the party has lost 'the wind in its sails.' But Duhaime's political future could also be at stake on Monday night. If he loses, Rayes, the former Conservative MP, said, 'it's going to be more and more difficult for him.' The riding, a largely agricultural region surrounding the town of Victoriaville, gave the Conservatives nearly 25 per cent of the vote during the last provincial election. The federal riding of Richmond–Arthabaska has voted Conservative since 2015. Story continues below advertisement The seat was vacated earlier this year when the Coalition Avenir Québec incumbent resigned to run for the federal Conservatives. Legault's party could now face a crushing defeat in a riding where it won more than 50 per cent of the vote in the last two elections. Poll aggregator shows the Conservatives and PQ tied at 37 per cent support in the riding, with the CAQ and the Liberals far behind at nine per cent. Keven Brasseur, the CAQ candidate and former president of the local chamber of commerce, said the polls don't align with the reaction he's getting from voters. 'There are people who tell me they want to choose someone local,' he said. 'There are a group of people who say they vote for the candidate before the political party.' Still, it's undoubtedly Duhaime who has the most to gain – and possibly the most to lose – on Monday. 'We're representing a huge percentage of the population and at least we're going to have a voice,' he said. 'There's going to be something different. I think that's what people are looking for.'
Global News
3 minutes ago
- Global News
McGill unions say university is threatening free speech over pro-Palestinian support
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook Four unions at McGill University say the school is attacking free speech by threatening to suspend funding for a student organization because of its support for a pro-Palestinian group. McGill sent a notice of default earlier this year to a social-justice student group, demanding it stop supporting Students for Palestine's Honour and Resistance. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The pro-Palestinian organization was one of the groups that started a months-long encampment on the university's downtown campus last year. The unions, representing some McGill professors, staff and teaching assistants, say the university is intimidating and threatening to dismantle the social-justice group. McGill also announced this spring it was moving to cut ties with the university's student union for similar reasons. That decision followed a three-day student strike over McGill's investments in companies linked to military action in Gaza, which led to dozens of classes being blocked or interrupted.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Appeals court tosses judge's contempt finding against Trump administration in prison deportations
WASHINGTON (AP) — An appeals court on Friday tossed out a judge's contempt finding against the Trump administration in a case over deportations to an El Salvador prison. The decision from the appeals court based in the nation's capital reverses a finding from U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg that there was probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court. Boasberg had accused President Donald Trump's administration officials of rushing deportees out of the country under the Alien Enemies Act last month before they could challenge their removal in court, and then willfully disregarding his order that planes already in the air should return to the United States. The Republican administration has denied violating his order.
