Reports quoted the diplomat as saying: “(The initiative) is not viable in the long term unless countries truly provide support. Therefore, I urge these countries to back up their words with actions.” The newspaper noted that for some alliance countries, joining this initiative might be problematic. In particular, for the United Kingdom, this may be due to budgetary reasons, and for France, political considerations, given the country’s historical avoidance of spending on American weapons. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated on September 2nd that alliance countries have already purchased lethal and defensive weapons worth $2 billion from the United States for Ukraine as part of the “Priority Key Requirements Initiative.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov indicated that any shipments containing weapons for Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Kremlin stated that arming Ukraine from the West is not conducive to negotiations and will have a negative impact.
