Chinanews.com, January 1. According to a recent report by the American "Foreign Policy" magazine, due to NATO member states stockpiling large quantities of weapons due to the Russia-Ukraine situation, the number and price of weapons approved by the United States to sell to NATO allies in 2022 has almost doubled compared with 2021. times, with a total value of about $28 billion.
According to reports, in 2021, the US government has approved 14 large-scale arms sales plans to NATO allies, worth about US$15.5 billion.
According to an analysis of two years of data from the Defense Security Agency of the US Department of Defense, in 2022, major arms sales to NATO members will increase to 24, worth about $28 billion, including the sale of weapons worth $1.24 billion to Finland, a future NATO member. .
"Everyone is trying to seal the deal as quickly as possible," said an Eastern European defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"(Russia-Ukraine situation) brings a cold new reality to Europe."
Although some of the arms sales to NATO approved by the United States in 2022 were planned earlier, for example, Germany plans to purchase F-35 fighter jets at a price of approximately US$8.4 billion.
But many other major arms sales have been rushed in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.
For example, the plan to sell 250 American "Abrams" main battle tanks to Poland was just proposed in April. In early December, the US State Department approved the sale of 116 M1 "Abrams" main battle tanks to Poland.
Rachel Rizzo, a fellow at the Atlantic Council for Advanced Study, said: "The Europeans, after sending so many weapons to Ukraine, are becoming extremely concerned about not having enough military equipment ... The US has a role to play in this, the 2022 arms sales This is evidenced by the increase over 2021."