Sweden prepares «largest rearmament plan» and additional assistance to Ukraine

Flags of Sweden and Ukraine. Illustrative photo: Getty Images

On Thursday, 27 March, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced the country's largest military rearmament plan since the Cold War.

According to him, Sweden's defence spending currently exceeds the NATO target of 2%, but this is not enough.

«Our goal is to achieve an increase in this figure at the NATO Summit in The Hague, and we are doing our part», he stressed.

Therefore, the Government of Sweden has presented a plan aimed at increasing the country's defence spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2030. Thus, starting in 2025, they plan to purchase $2.5 billion worth of weapons for delivery in 2026-2028. These funds will be used to purchase air defence systems, drones, rocket artillery, personal protective equipment and ammunition.

An additional $9.5 billion in funding will also be allocated for 2025 for a new package of measures to strengthen measures to counter hybrid threats.

At the same time, the government intends to increase military assistance to Ukraine from $2.5 billion to just over $4 billion this year.

Earlier it was reported that Sweden does not rule out the possibility of strengthening the post-war peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.