Western Europe should supply weapons to Ukraine faster, Poland and Denmark say

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Western European countries should be faster and more generous in supplying Ukraine with weapons, the prime ministers of Poland and Denmark said after meeting in Copenhagen on Thursday.

“I would like them to be exactly like Denmark and Poland. A longer version is to be more generous in terms of weapon delivery and more quick,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.

Poland, a key ally of Ukraine, has been instrumental in convincing European allies to donate heavy gear to Ukraine, including tanks, a move opposed by several countries until recently.

“Let’s be frank. If not for the United States, Poland and the United Kingdom, probably Ukraine would not have survived the first couple of weeks or the first couple of months,” Morawiecki said.

“It’s just strengthening the NATO alliance, some sceptical countries should no longer be sceptical.”    Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of the start of the war Morawiecki and his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen stressed the urgency of delivering support to Kyiv as Europe could not allow Ukraine to be defeated.

   “We need to be aware that we don’t have a lot of time. So we need to speed up our financial support, our military help, we need more donations and we need to work very closely together to make sure they have the capacities they need” Frederiksen said.

(Reporting by Anna Koper, Marek Strzelecki, and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Alison Williams, Kirsten Donovan)