France, Italy Opt Out of US-Led Arms Procurement for Ukraine

France and Italy will not participate in the scheme announced by US President Donald Trump, under which Europeans would purchase weapons for Ukraine from Americans. 

The Gaze writes about it, referring to Politico and La Stampa.

In the Oval Office, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte named four Northern European countries, in addition to the UK and the Netherlands, that support the plan to supply American weapons to Ukraine. France, whose President Emmanuel Macron has long advocated for Europeans to build their own defence industrial base through local procurement, was a notable omission from this list.

According to two French officials familiar with the matter, Paris will not join the initiative to buy American weapons for precisely this reason. The French government is also attempting to increase its own defence spending while trying to cut budgetary outlays and curb its staggering deficit.

The Italian government is currently also unwilling to join the initiative to buy American weapons for Ukraine using European funds, due to a lack of available funds. Sources within the Italian Ministry of Defence stated that there had been "no discussions" about purchasing American weapons. At the same time, they urged that this refusal should not be interpreted as distancing from support for Ukraine. According to the same sources, the only defence purchases from the US planned by Italy are F-35 fighter jets. It is also noted that the Italian side has so far received only one official proposal from NATO regarding American weapons for Ukraine, and this concerns logistics.

As The Gaze reported earlier, on 14 July, US President Donald Trump announced an agreement between the US and NATO, under which European allies would pay for American weapon supplies to Ukraine. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala stated that his country would not participate in the US project to procure American weapons for Ukraine through NATO.