Ukraine's diplomatic chief on Friday called on the West to do more to “throttle” weapons production in Russia, estimating that 95% of “foreign critical components” used in Russian weapons are made by Western companies would.
• Also read: Ukraine attacks an oil depot in northern Russia
• Also read: Russia claims control of a small town in eastern Ukraine
“The West must seriously start limiting Russia's ability to produce weapons,” said Dmytro Kouleba on X (ex-Twitter).
He assured that “according to some data, 95% of foreign critical components found in Russian weapons destroyed in Ukraine come from Western countries.”
The minister noted the role of “private companies” exporting to Russia. These are “not necessarily military products, but also civilian or dual-use products and even household appliances.”
According to him, his country would need “less military aid” if Western states did everything they could to close “the tricks and loopholes” in the US and European Union sanctions system against Moscow.
The minister therefore called for “large-scale efforts” in this area to “save the lives of many civilians in Ukraine and disrupt (Vladimir) Putin’s war machine.”
Russia has completely converted its economy to the defense industry and increased its production, despite sanctions that were intended to hinder the production of ammunition and weapons.
Moscow has managed to circumvent some of these measures and, for example, source the microelectronics it needs primarily from Asia.
Ukraine, for its part, is seeing military aid from the West dry up amid internal disagreements, particularly in the United States.