The end result will still mean billions of euros worth of weapons are sent to Ukraine — some of them directly by donors, whereas if countries give less they’ll have to actually pay into the fund.
Bilateral arms shipments to Ukraine will be discounted from cash contributions to the fund at a level of around 43 percent. That means that for every €2.30 in weapons that a country gives Ukraine, it can deduct €1 from what it owes to the fund.
For all countries, this means that as long as they give enough bilateral aid, they won’t have to give any new cash to the fund.
It’s “creative accounting,” one official told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook.
Germany, for example, has to chip in around €1.2 billion a year, but as long as it gives Ukraine at least €2.4 billion in weapons, it will be off the hook. This year Berlin has pledged it will give €7 billion.
Germany has already said it will count its own arms shipments as its contribution.
