(Bloomberg) -- European Union countries including Germany and France are increasingly blaming each other for failing to provide Ukraine with enough weapons, threatening to chip away at the bloc’s unity as Kyiv enters a crucial phase in the war. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has recently urged allies to provide more funding, and said that a failure to do so would benefit Russian President Vladimir Putin and represent a threat to Western security.  

The bickering comes at an awkward moment for Ukraine as concern mounts that support for Kyiv is wavering, with more than $100 billion in US and EU funding held up amid political infighting. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron are expected to discuss the issue Monday evening in Berlin. 

Germany is pushing the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to compile an overview of member states’ planned financial and military aid to Ukraine, in what some see as a way to hold countries accountable for what they give, according to people familiar with the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

Talks of the German-led audit, which aims to give Ukraine better visibility over the support it can expect this year, come ahead of an emergency summit on Feb. 1, when leaders will try to agree on a €50 billion ($54.5 billion) aid package that Hungary blocked in December. 

European aid for Ukraine is becoming critical as US funding remains blocked in Congress and Kyiv could start suffering from shortfalls as early as March. A counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces last year failed to break through Russian lines, forcing Ukraine back on the defensive.

France has rebuffed accusations that its aid to Ukraine is lagging. In a radio interview with France Inter last week, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu highlighted plans to deliver 40 SCALP long-range cruise missiles, in contrast with Germany, which won’t send its cruise missiles despite pleas from Kyiv.  

“Germany refuses to deliver Taurus missiles, the equivalent of the SCALP, which are real game-changers,” Lecornu said.

“I wouldn’t want to point fingers at some of our allies but we can also be proud of the fact that we have indeed delivered systems that are reliable,” he added, suggesting that other nations’ weapons don’t always work properly. 

Germany has earmarked €8 billion in bilateral support for Ukraine this year, while the Netherlands will give over €2 billion. Some member states have yet to unveil any support packages.

Meanwhile, the bloc’s eastern countries already depleted much of their weapons stockpiles to support Ukraine early on in the war but continue to urge their counterparts to do more. 

“If all countries put in 1% of GDP, I would say the job would be done,” Latvian Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins told reporters on Monday, ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts. “We can all do more.”  

Finland’s foreign minister, Elina Valtonen, meanwhile, welcomed a rivalry among member states over support to Kyiv. “If it’s a positive competition — as in who delivers most — I think it’s only a good thing,” she said.

--With assistance from Samy Adghirni, Jorge Valero and Natalia Drozdiak.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.