Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, has promised an additional €500 billion in weapons for Ukraine, to be delivered in 2023. Senior EU officials, however, fear a “tipping point” could be hit in the fall or early winter that will turn domestic opinion against further aid to Ukraine. Italy is holding elections in September that are likely to bring to power a right-wing coalition that includes parties historically sympathetic to Moscow. Some EU states are said to be considering asking for an easing of sanctions on Russia to ease pressure on the eurozone economy ahead of a meeting of foreign and defense ministers in Prague next week. Speaking ahead of his country’s independence day, which coincides with the six-month anniversary of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Western allies not to cut support. “If the world shows weariness with the war in Ukraine, it will be a great threat to the world,” he said. July was the first month since the start of the war in which none of the EU’s five biggest economies – Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Spain – made new pledges of military support. Britain joined the group of European nations without making any new commitments, but soon after offered to double the number of M270 long-range missile launchers, the Army’s most advanced missile system, being sent to Kyiv. Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that support for Ukraine must continue until Russia withdraws its forces from Crimea. “In the face of Putin’s offensive, we must continue to provide our Ukrainian friends with all the military, humanitarian, economic and diplomatic support they need until Russia ends this heinous war and withdraws its forces from all of Ukraine,” said Prime Minister. International Conference.
