How Africa News
Ukraine has become the world’s third largest weaponry importer in 2022 as a result of the massive amount of heavy military aid offered by the United States and European countries following the full-scale Russian invasion in February last year.
According to a recent analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), from 1991 to the end of 2021, Ukraine bought a tiny number of large weapons, despite accounting for 2% of global arms imports over the last five years, the SIPRI reported on March 13.
According to the institute’s data, European weaponry imports rose by 47% between 2013 and 2022 “due to the tensions between Russia and most other European states.”
The SIPRI added that the United States’ share of arms exports had increased from 33 to 40%, while Russia’s dropped from 22 to 16%.
‘Due to concerns about how the supply of combat aircraft and long-range missiles could further escalate the war in Ukraine, NATO states declined Ukraine’s requests for them in 2022. At the same time, they supplied such arms to other states involved in conflict, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia,’ said Pieter D. Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
Ukraine has been asking for fighter jets for months in order to defend its airspace and increase the efficiency of its combined arms forces during a future invasion. But, other Western allies, like the United States and Germany, have ruled out sending jets at this time.
On March 8, EU defense ministers agreed in Stockholm to increase ammunition supplies to Ukraine but have yet to achieve a “concrete and legal agreement.”
