Tobias Ellwood has told the UK House of Commons that building a “massive arms factory" in Poland could help Ukraine win the war, Poland’s PAP news agency reported on Thursday.
Ellwood, a Conservative MP who is chairman of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, welcomed Wednesday's decisions by Germany and the United States to deliver Western-made main battle tanks to Ukraine.
But he told The Telegraph daily that the model of donations to Kyiv with differing supply chains and types of ammunition was “unsustainable,” according to PAP.
Western governments have demonstrated a lack of strategic foresight in their plans for helping Ukraine to “survive and thrive,” Ellwood said.
“It’s just not feasible in the long term,” he told The Telegraph, as quoted by PAP.
“Tanks today, yes. But we need a strategy to make sure Ukraine can defend itself,” Ellwood added.
He also said that creating an arms factory in Poland could help transform Ukraine's armed forces into a more independent military, the Polish news agency reported.
His concept is modelled on a microchip factory opened by Taiwan, which fears that a Chinese invasion could cut it off from Western markets, according to The Telegraph.
Ellwood told the British newspaper: “Let’s do the same with Ukraine so they can procure their own equipment to their own specification, probably NATO standard, and have a constantly protected supply chain."
On Tuesday, Ellwood laid out a seven-point plan in the House of Commons he said could be a "strategy to conclude the conflict" in Ukraine by the end of 2023, The Telegraph reported.
Talks on hosting the plant have already begun with Poland, Ellwood said, adding that Britain should take a leading role among Western partners to ensure the success of the project.
Ukraine could use the factory to produce the German-made Leopard 2 tank under licence to further bolster stocks in the future, The Telegraph said.
US President Joe Biden on Wednesday approved the supply of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, while Germany announced it would make 14 of its Leopard 2A6 tanks available to Ukraine, as well as allow partner countries to re-export further tanks, news outlets reported.
Polish President Andrzej Duda pledged earlier this month that Poland would send a company of German-made Leopard tanks to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia.
Thursday is day 337 of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
(mo/gs)
Source: PAP, The Telegraph