Ukraine updates: Rheinmetall plans Ukraine arms factories

The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after meetings in Washington that securing new support for Ukraine could not wait since the outcome of the war will be decided this spring and summer.

"Whatever has to be done, it has to be done quickly," Borrell told reporters when asked about his message for US lawmakers. A foreign aid billwith billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine has yet to pass Congress.

"It's true for us. We have to speed up. We have to increase our support, to do more and quicker. That's why we are increasing our industrial defense capacities. And it is also true for the US," Borrell said when asked about Europe's efforts to support Ukraine's war effort.

"The next months will be decisive. Many analysts expect a major Russian offensive this summer, and Ukraine cannot wait until the result of the next US elections," he added.

A plane carrying British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps had its satellite signal jammed as it flew near Russian territory, the government said Thursday.

The Royal Air Force jet carrying Shapps, along with other officials and journalists, "temporarily experienced GPS jamming when they flew close to Kaliningrad” on a flight from Poland to the UK, the government said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said “the jamming didn't threaten the safety of the aircraft at any point." He said it was not unusual for aircraft to experience electronic jamming near Kaliningrad.

Kaliningrad is a Russian enclave bordering Poland and Lithuania, and it's home to the Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would be willing to ramp up military support for Ukraine if it is necessary to win the war.

"If Russia wins this war, Europe's credibility will be reduced to zero," he said in a Thursday night television interview with TF1 and France Television.

Macron said there had been "too many limits in our vocabulary" since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

"Two years ago we said we would never send tanks. We did. Two years ago, we said we would never send medium-range missiles. We did," he said.

"Those who say 'let's not support Ukraine' do not make the choice of peace, they make the choice of defeat," he added.

Macron added that "all options" are on the table but this would depend on whether or not Russia escalates the conflict. 

"We will never take the initiative," he added.

Germany's largest defense contractor Rheinmetall is set to significantly increase its production of artillery shells and other munitions by opening several new factories in Ukraine, Lithuania and Germany, the concern said on Thursday.

Rheinmetall's production capacity for artillery rounds is currently around 700,000 per year, a figure which is set to increase to at least 1.5 million by 2026.

The German government alone has committed to buy €14 billion worth of ammunition over the next ten years, mainly for its own Bundeswehr, while Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger revealed at a press conference in Düsseldorf that "several hundred thousand are earmarked for Ukraine."

After increasing turnover by 12% to €7.17 billion ($7.81) in 2023 and posting a record operating plus of €918 million ($999m), the DAX-listed company plans to build three new factories in Ukraine to produce tanks, munitions and air-defense systems.

Back in Germany, a new plant in Weeze near Düsseldorf has already employed 50 news engineers to help oversee the production of fuselages for US F-35 bombers, with a further 6,000 contracts still to be handed out. "We're growing rapidly," said Papperger.

Rheinmetall, whose competitors include the Norwegian company Nammo, says it is the largest manufacturer of artillery ammunition in the Western world. And it currently finds itself on an upward trajectory thanks to orders from governments who are looking to increase their defense spending as a result of Russia's war in Ukraine.

In 2023, Rheinmetall took orders worth €38.3 billion, up 44% from the previous year.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reassured the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone on Thursday that international partners are cooperating closely to help Ukraine, according to a government’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson said, "the Chancellor and Ukrainian President agreed to continue they're constructive dialogue, also with a view to global support for a peace solution, and to remain in close contact."

This comes after Scholz ruled out the deployment of Taurus cruise missiles as German soldiers have to help operate them, which could, therefore, lead to an international escalation of the conflict.

In the phone call, Zelenskyy has discussed defense cooperations with the Chancellor and also thanked him for joining Czech efforts to procure artillery ammunition.

"I informed the Federal Chancellor about the priority needs of Ukrainian defenders: armored vehicles, artillery, and air defense," the President posted on social media platform X.

The phone call helped to coordinate positions between the two leaders, before Scholz is meeting with France and Poland tomorrow, Zelenskyy said. 

Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has voted against sending Taurus missiles to help Ukraine fight off Russia's invasion for the third time this year.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had called for the long-range weapon system to be deployed "immediately" as Russia makes incremental gains on the front line.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the missiles could only be deployed using soldiers from Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, which would risk dragging Germany into the war against Russia. 

Of the 690 lawmakers who took part in the vote, 495 voted against the delivery with 190 in favor and five abstentions.

The non-binding Taurus proposal would not have given the green light for the deliveries, with parliament instead serving as a forum for discussion. The matter would be discussed and decided in Germany's Federal Security Council.

The Taurus KEPD-350 missile is considered one of the Bundeswehr's most modern weapon systems.
The missile, fired from the air by fighter jets, travels at almost the speed of sound and can strike targets as far as 500 kilometers (310 miles) away.

 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has called for members of the military alliance to step up support for Ukraine in his annual report as secretary-general.

"Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition," he stressed.

It comes a day after European Union member states agreed to provide Ukraine with an additional €5 billion ($5.5 billion) in military aid.

Also on Thursday, Germany's parliament voted against an opposition motion to allow long-range Taurus cruise missiles to be sent to Ukraine.

In the United States, plans for aid to Ukraine have been stalled in Congress for months, with a stopgap package of $300 million being announced by the executive branch earlier this week.

Stoltenberg urged NATO members to maintain the "political will" to provide Kyiv with sufficient arms to fight off a Russian invasion.

Stoltenberg said NATO countries provide the vast majority of military aid to Ukraine, which has helped the country "survive as an independent, sovereign nation."

"But Ukrainians need more support — and they need it now," he added.

"NATO allies are not providing Ukraine with enough ammunition and that has consequences on the battlefield every day," Stoltenberg said. "It is one of the reasons why the Russians have been able to make some advance on the battlefield over the last weeks and months."

rc/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)