Europe | Running on empty

Is the West supplying Ukraine with enough weapons?

The answer depends, in part, on what the goal is

TOPSHOT - Ukrainian servicemen fire with a French self-propelled 155 mm/52-calibre gun Caesar towards Russian positions at a front line in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 15, 2022. - Ukraine pleaded with Western governments on June 15, 2022 to decide quickly on sending heavy weapons to shore up its faltering defences, as Russia said it would evacuate civilians from a frontline chemical plant. (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Jun 19th 2022

When the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania visited Kyiv on June 16th, they came bearing gifts. “We are doing everything so that Ukraine wins this war,” declared Emmanuel Macron, France’s president. He vowed to send six more state-of-the-art caesar artillery pieces “in the coming weeks”, on top of the dozen delivered so far. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, popped up in Kyiv a day later and promised a big new military-training programme. And on June 21st a Ukrainian official said that the Panzerhaubitze 2000, a formidable German self-propelled howitzer, had arrived.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Running on empty”