EU Commission chief backs common purchase contract scheme to get arms to Ukraine

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The president of the European Commission on Saturday endorsed the idea of common EU purchase contracts for providing Ukraine with military aid.

"We could think of, for example, advanced purchase agreements, that give the defense industry the possibility to invest in production lines" to deliver more and faster supply to Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen said at the Munich Security Conference, speaking at a panel with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas proposed last week to set up a joint procurement system for purchasing arms for Ukraine in a manner similar to the way the bloc supported COVID-19 vaccines' development and procurement.

According to information obtained by Anadolu, EU foreign ministers are also due to discuss the proposal at their meeting on Monday, but will not take a decision on the matter.

Von der Leyen also underlined that the European defense industry must "speed and scale up the production of standardized products that Ukraine needs desperately."

She also stressed that the EU would "never ever accept the imperialistic war" that Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging on Ukraine because he is "trampling on the international law that protects all of us."

Since the beginning of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, the EU and its member states have provided €12 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) under the EU's own fund, the European Peace Facility.