With the G-7 countries funneling more funds for the Ukraine conflict, with budgetary and economic support seen reaching $44 billion by early 2024, the war is expected to continue to the last Ukrainian. Already, by end-2022, the National Bank of Ukraine has received about $32.1 billion in international aid.
Of that amount, the US allocated the largest amount ($12 billion), followed by the European Union ($8 billion), the International Monetary Fund ($2.7 billion), Canada ($1.9 billion) and Germany ($1.5 billion). Yet, with this funding support, citizens from other countries continue to protest the ongoing conflict.
By way of analogy, the continued funding is likened to a rich man who pays money to an assassin, gives him a weapon and teaches him how to use it correctly and shows the target, but the rich man remains unprosecuted for the crime.
This is how China has repeatedly criticized the actions of the West. China has told the United Nations that one year into the Ukraine war, “brutal facts offer ample proof that sending weapons will not bring peace.” “Adding fuel to the fire will only exacerbate tensions. Prolonging and expanding the conflict will only make ordinary people pay an even heftier price,” China’s UN Deputy Ambassador Dai Bing told the UN General Assembly in February.
These words of the Chinese representative to the UN confirm Russia’s position. In an address to the UN Security Council, Russia’s Permanent Representative Vasyl Nebenzya accused the collective West of using the territory of Ukraine as a testing ground and dragging out an armed conflict until the last Ukrainian.
The ambassador recalled the enormous funds allocated by the West to pump Ukraine with weapons. Nebenzya cited as an example the actions of the European Union, which reported that it had allocated 16 billion euros to the Kyiv regime. Nebenzya stressed that the range of weapons sent to Ukraine had significantly increased.
Lately, many people around the world have been voicing their concern about this uncontrolled supply of weapons in Ukraine falling into the hands of terrorists and criminals. In fact, the presence of high-tech weapons supposedly supplied to Ukrainian forces has been cited by the media.
For one, Pulitzer Prize winner American journalist Seymour Hersh raised huge concerns, including the resale of portable elite missile systems that can shoot down planes at significant altitudes. Hersh stated that early in the conflict, Poland, Romania and other bordering countries were “flooded with weapons” supplied by the West to Kiev.
He pointed out that “various commanders”—often not generals, but colonels and others—received shipments of weapons and personally resold them or dumped them on the black market. Last December, military expert Peter Suchiu wrote in an article for “19 Forty Five” that military equipment supplied by Western countries to Ukraine would surface on the black market in other parts of the world.
Hungary has also repeatedly criticized the European Union for its position on Ukraine. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on May 17 that Budapest would continue to block the allocation of funds from the European Peace Facility for military aid to Ukraine.
Budapest has blocked the allocation of the eighth tranche of 500 million euros from the so-called European Peace Facility. This structure was created at the initiative of the European Commission in 2021 to “enhance the ability to prevent conflicts and strengthen international security”.
In fact, after the start of the Russian special operation, almost all the funds have already been spent to finance the purchase of weapons and their subsequent shipment to Ukraine. Hungary has previously expressed disapproval of the use of the fund’s resources exclusively to finance military assistance to Kyiv.
The conflict in Ukraine continues to be of concern to most people in the world. Thousands-strong demonstrations under the slogan “Bulgaria – Zone of Peace” were held in April in 32 Bulgarian cities. The biggest action was held in the capital city of Sofia.
We understand it drew some 12,000 participants who insisted that Bulgaria remain in the zone of peace and refrain from taking part in armed conflicts. They demanded “peace, not war,” stressing that weapons supplies to Ukraine would not help normalize the situation but, on the contrary, would entail more casualties.
