Denmark to buy ‘long-range’ weapons amid Russia ‘paradigm shift’

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters the determination would make a ‘credible deterrence’ against Russia.

Denmark volition get long-range, high-precision weapons for the archetypal clip successful an effort to deter Russia, its premier curate has said.

In a steadfast rebuke of Moscow, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told journalists Wednesday that Russia would represent a menace to Denmark for “years to come” adjacent if determination is nary imminent information of an attack.

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“With these weapons, the defence forces volition beryllium capable to deed targets astatine agelong scope and, for example, neutralise force rocket threats,” she said, adding that the determination represented a “paradigm displacement successful Danish defence policy”.

Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the authorities would question to physique up missiles and drones, but did not specify which weapons.

The announcement came aft Denmark’s largest arms acquisition ever past week, amounting to 58 cardinal Danish crowns ($9.2bn), of European-made aerial defence systems. In February, Frederiksen urged the subject to “buy, buy, buy” erstwhile moving up with a 50 cardinal crown ($7.9bn) enlargement of subject spending implicit the adjacent 2 years – a melodramatic reversal aft decades of cuts.

It was not instantly wide connected Wednesday however overmuch Denmark planned to walk connected the long-range weapons.

Apart from Russia, Frederiksen has besides been outspoken against United States President Donald Trump’s repeated assertions that helium wants to get Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Last month, Denmark summoned the US’s complaint d’affaires successful Denmark aft a nationalist broadcaster published a study that 3 US citizens had covertly tried to displacement Greenlanders’ opinions against Denmark.

“Any interference successful interior affairs successful the kingdom of Denmark and Greenlandic ideology is unacceptable,” Frederiksen said astatine the time, emphasising that “the Americans person not intelligibly rejected” the report.

Billions caput to Ukraine from PURL

Ukraine is meantime hoping to person a large boost to its weapons proviso done the Priority Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, a caller mechanics that allows NATO states to concern the transportation of US-sourced weapons and exertion to Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that Ukraine expects to person astir $3.5bn to $3.6bn done PURL by October, with Western aerial defence systems among the archetypal US weapons to beryllium sent.

The enhancement arrives amid sustained Russian attacks successful confederate Ukraine, including the metropolis of Zaporizhzhia, wherever Russian forces killed astatine slightest 1 idiosyncratic and injured 18 much earlier this week. Another idiosyncratic was killed successful the Mykolaiv region, and 2 much were injured successful the metropolis of Kharkiv successful the country’s northeast.

Throughout September, Russia has launched much than 3,500 drones and astir 190 missiles against Ukraine truthful acold successful September, according to Zelenskyy.

Still, the president has projected an aerial of confidence, penning connected X Wednesday that Russia has mislaid “so overmuch manpower” successful caller fighting, helium believes “they deficiency the spot for large-scale offensives”.

Lithuanian prosecutors besides charged 15 radical successful transportation with DHL parcels that exploded crossed courier depots successful Europe past year, which they allege were organised by Russian operatives with ties to Russian subject intelligence.