US arms sales to Europe have multiplied
Special report: Wars are going on, people are dying, and America is profiting from it. Amid the ongoing Ukraine war, US arms sales to various European countries have increased dramatically. European countries are going to buy 23 billion dollars worth of weapons and military equipment from America. According to the information of the Sweden-based research institute ‘International Peace Research Institute’ – from 2017 to 2021, most European countries bought more than 50 percent of their weapons from America. Among them, Norway bought 83% of its total weapons from America, Britain 77%, Italy 72% and Netherlands bought 95%. Between 2017 and 2021, European countries bought 19 percent more weapons from America than in the previous five years. Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Center for European Reform, said: ‘This is definitely the most significant increase in European defense spending since the end of the Cold War.’ Before the start of the Ukraine war, EU countries increased their arms purchases from the US and pledged to buy $23 trillion worth of new arms. Of this, Germany alone will buy $10 billion worth of arms from America to modernize its military equipment. From 2017 to 2021, the United States alone sold 39 percent of the $20,000 billion in total arms sales. America is ahead of all the countries in the world in arms sales. However, America is not ahead in all sectors when it comes to arms sales in Europe. European countries depended more on Germany for tanks, France for ammunition and Germany, France or Britain for submarines. European countries have spent the most money on buying F-35 fighter jets from America.