Arming Ukraine could take up to two years – Sweden’s Defense Minister
Sweden needs as long as two years to reach the desired capacity to provide Ukraine with more ammunition and beef up its own army, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said, Bloomberg reported.
Russian aggression upended all calculus for Sweden, country, which has not seen war for about two centuries, and cut back military spending drastically after the Cold War.
Jonson outlined three goals: securing Ukraine's victory in the fight against Russian aggression, integrating Sweden into NATO, and expanding the country's military forces to an extent that has not been seen since the early days of the Cold War in the 1950s.
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The plans include bolstering the army by thousands of troops as it has been downsized from 37 brigades at its peak to two brigades now.
"Russia has proven to be faster on its feet than the Euro-Atlantic community...” he admitted.
“I expect we will catch up, but I think it will take a year or two before we see the full effect."
The Nordic nation also joined the German initiative to provide Ukraine with additional Patriot air defense systems, however, Jonson believes that giving away one of Sweden's four existing batteries would significantly damage its own defenses.
"There are certainly things we can do easier, faster and with less impact on our own capabilities than giving away Patriot system," he said, adding that it is a limited resource.
Read also: Sweden identifies Russia as biggest security threat
Providing aid to Ukraine is an urgent task, and Sweden bears additional significance due to its defense industry, which "punches above its weight."
"There’s no other country of 10 million in the world that has the ability to design and construct fighter aircraft, submarines, artillery systems and infantry fighting vehicles," Jonson said.
“This is an advantage to us also in our endeavor to support Ukraine.”
Sweden backs sending troops to Ukraine, if such a proposal appears at the level of NATO member states, he said earlier.
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