Ukraine will be able to purchase Chinese components for drones with European money — Financial Times

This was reported by the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the decision.

According to the publication, Kyiv has received the right to use part of the first tranche of the EU defense loan to purchase Chinese-made components — this is an exception worth about €6 billion within the framework of the general support program Ukraine Support Loan, under which €60 billion is provided for armaments. This is the first official exception to the general rules for financing this program.

The permit to purchase Chinese parts is valid precisely in the event that European analogues are not available — that is, the EU recognizes that it cannot yet fully provide the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex with the necessary parts on its own.

The FT notes that the decision exposes a problem within the European defense industry itself: despite the EU’s strategic desire to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains, Ukraine’s urgent military needs forced it to resort to this regulatory exception. The situation also has geopolitical implications — Chinese components are also an integral part of Russian military production, so financing the purchase of such parts with EU funds creates a kind of paradox: the same supply chains can indirectly work for both sides of the conflict.