Denmark Donates All Artillery Reserves For Ukraine

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen/PHOTO via Instagram @mette

JAKARTA - Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen promised to donate all reserves of his artillery armaments to Ukraine, which is currently at war with Russia.

At the Munich Security Conference which took place on February 16-18 in Germany, Frederiksen also emphasized the importance of unity between European countries in supporting Ukraine.

"Support can be shown by donating weapons, ammunition, and air defense systems that are urgently needed by the Eastern European country," he said.

"From the Danish side, we decided to donate all artillery reserves," said Danish Prime Minister as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Monday, February 19.

Frederiksen criticized the leaders of European countries who, according to him, took advantage of the issue of weapons production, so they failed to deliver weapons to the Ukrainian side.

"This is not just a matter of production, because at this time we have weapons, ammunition, or air defense that we do not use at a time when it should be sent to Ukraine," he said.

He also encouraged European countries not to wait for the United States to approve arms supply financing for the Ukrainian military to act.

"No matter what the US will do later, we, Europeans, must be able to defend ourselves. This is a war that is happening on the European continent," said Frederiksen, asserting.

The statement was made by Frederiksen when Ukraine was experiencing a shortage of personnel and ammunition in dealing with Russia's military underminers on the front lines in the eastern part of the country.

Although Ukraine continues to push for weapons to be delivered immediately, according to European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell on January 31, the European Union will only be able to deliver half of the one million artillery grains promised in March.

The remainder of the target delivery to Ukraine will be completed before the end of the year, Borrell said.

Denmark is one of the largest arms suppliers to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The country also promised to send 19 units of F-16 fighter aircraft before the end of the year and after completing training Ukrainian pilots.

On the other hand, Russia has repeatedly criticized Western countries that continue to supply weapons to Ukraine. Russia considers the action will only prolong the conflict.