NATO, EU sound alarm over risk of Ukraine weapons smuggling

Nato and EU states are pushing for better tracking of weapons supplied to Ukraine in response to fears that criminal groups are smuggling them out of the country and onto Europe’s black market.

Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, western states have pledged more than $10bn in military support, from portable rocket launchers and armoured vehicles to rifles and vast amounts of ammunition, Financial Times reported on July 12. 

A number of NATO member states are discussing with Kyiv some form of tracking system or detailed inventory lists for weapons supplied to Ukraine, two western officials briefed on the talks told the Financial Times.

Ukraine’s government is setting up a more extensive weapons monitoring and tracing system with the help of western countries, a third person familiar with the situation said.

“All these weapons land in southern Poland, get shipped to the border and then are just divided up into vehicles to cross: trucks, vans, sometimes private cars,” said one of the western officials. “And from that moment we go blank on their location and we have no idea where they go, where they are used or even if they stay in the country.”

The potential for US weapons sent to Ukraine to fall into the wrong hands is “among a host of considerations” given the “challenging situation” on the ground in the country, said Bonnie Denise Jenkins, US under secretary for arms control and international security, on July 12.

“The US very seriously takes our responsibility to protect American origin defence technologies and prevent their diversion or illicit proliferation,” Jenkins told reporters in Brussels, adding that the US was in “continued contact” with Kyiv on the issue.

The issue of arms trafficking from Ukraine was discussed at a meeting of EU interior ministers this week, while on July 11, the European Commission launched an “EU Support Hub” in neighbouring Moldova to provide expertise and co-operation to combat issues such as weapons smuggling.

Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, said in April that its investigations indicated that weapons trafficking from Ukraine into the bloc to supply organised crime groups had begun and was a potential threat to EU security.