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Posted on 07/16/2025 7:30:15 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
France and Italy will not take part in a new NATO-led initiative to finance the delivery of U.S. weapons to Ukraine, Politico and La Stampa reported on July 16, citing undisclosed government officials in both countries.
Despite being a long-standing supporter of Ukraine, France has opted out of the plan, which was unveiled during U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Washington on July 14.
Under this scheme, NATO will purchase advanced arms from the U.S., including air defense systems, and deliver some of them to Ukraine.
According to two French officials, France declined to join the plan because of President Emmanuel Macron's push for European nations to strengthen their own defense industries by purchasing domestically produced arms.
France is also contending with budget constraints and rising defense spending targets amid broader economic pressures, Politico wrote.
Italy, meanwhile, has taken a similar position. According to La Stampa, Italian officials ruled out direct purchases of U.S. weapons, citing fiscal limitations and the country's focus on different technological systems, such as the Italian-French-made SAMP/T air defense system already supplied to Ukraine.
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Macron is such a jerk.
As long as they pay their 5% for defense should it matter?
This is another great deal Trump put together FOR America.
I’m sure it didn’t take these leaders long to figure out that they were going to be on the wrong end of a con job facilitated by Lindsey Graham (R-Boeing/Raytheon).
Makes sense for them to make their own stuff
Surrender monkey Frogs and Italians: We NO PAY for US Weapons for Ukraine, cause we know American Democrats will MAKE US Taxpayers pay for 'em, we ain't stupid.
They will NEVER meet that goal.
Zee French Are Coming!
And notice no country in Western Europe has instituted a draft.
Can’t be too scared of the Rooskies, can they?
Especially since they’ve been violating sanctions all along.
Macron is not a jerk, he is a politician who is doing what he must do in the wake of Donald Trump's remarks. Any European leader who dutifully agrees to buy American arms with no commensurate contribution to the cause of the war by the US, will be run out of office as a patsy for Trump.
Trump profits while French taxpayers pay? Few European leaders will be politically foolish to take that proposal to their people.
This is not a transactional situation. The amount of money that the United States is spending on the Ukraine war is trivial when one considers the sheer tonnage of waste that our government indulges every year, all as exposed by DOGE. We have not spent $380 billion, Trump has continually misled the nation by parroting that number.
We are at risk of being miserly, penny wise and pound foolish, even greedy, at a time when we need statesmanship. Our alliances, especially those alliances in the Pacific rim where we desperately need allies against China, are watching us.
First, Trump excoriates our ally, Ukraine (yes our ally!), Negotiates against Ukraine's interest, he accedes to all Russia's demands at the beginning of negotiations, he humiliates the President of Ukraine in an effort to bludgeon that country into accepting Russia's demands, when this campaign fails, he flip-flops and takes the other side.
But he takes the other side only at profit. Our allies, our potential allies around the world, are not blind to this travesty.
Germany is paying for all of it anyway. They will send their Patriot batteries to Ukraine. Then buy new ones from the U.S.
I’m fine with this. Better that we preserve and build our key reserves anyway.
Does this mean American Tax Payers will be stuck with the Bill again for supplying our Weapons to YouCrayne thru NATO?
Italy is just broke. But Macron is afraid of Pootie.
By this, they’re showing that they’re not really afraid of Russia, so why are our war hawks trying to get them into a fight with that nation?
The upshot being - Trump is OK with the war in Ukraine, and confronting nuclear-armed Russia, as long as others will buy the equipment from us when doing so? It seems absurd.
2. The country is led by a guy who made campaign appearances on behalf of Kamala Harris in 2024.
3. There is no compelling national interest at stake for the U.S. in this Russia-Ukraine debacle.
There isn’t an issue that defines the utter corruption of the U.S. political establishment more clearly and thoroughly than Ukraine.
For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone who even remotely identifies with the MAGA movement would give one tenth of a sh!t about a country’s leaders and U.S. handlers have gone to such great lengths to engineer a coup against Donald Trump since 2019.
What about maybe the situation is what is so little discussed.
The weapons don’t exist and production will take years. Payment up front can’t make any sense and the production won’t start without that payment up front.
Zelensky’s comments make it pretty clear he is aware of this. He was hoping for some sort of sanctions that would have immediate effect — rather than promises to provide weapons that don’t exist and take a year or more to produce, starting only after cash is paid in advance.
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