In addition, half of the West's commitments on military equipment do not arrive on time, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov complained this weekend.
In Paris, leaders were expected to discuss ways to better coordinate their support and “counteract the impression that everything is falling apart,” according to a French presidential aide.
Despite the rising stakes and the sense that the West is choking, no new arms supply announcement is expected, the aide added.
Macron's conference of international leaders may backfire, said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group.
“If there is no concrete result, rather than the determination of the West, (the conference) will show how fragile their unity really is and that the EU does not really have a plan to support Ukraine,” he said.
It will be a disappointment, Rahman says, if there is no help on the battlefield, no answer to the ammunition gap and no resolution to the “quasi-academic” debate over arms purchases, with France insisting on buying European ones to boost the continent's defense industry. .
The Czech Republic has discovered 800,000 shells being sold outside the EU, but wants other governments to help foot the bill. Countries including France, Greece and Cyprus have so far refused to pay with European money for munitions leaving the bloc.
Ahead of the summit, however, the Élysée councilor gave some indication that France could show some flexibility, telling reporters that the French president's position was not “dogmatic” even if it was important to boost the EU's own stuttering defense industry.
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