LUXEMBOURG — Luxembourg’s navy consists of fewer than 1,000 troops, one cargo aircraft, two helicopters shared with police forces and fewer than 200 vehicles, starting from Humvees to about 10 state-of-the-art Dingo fight reconnaissance automobiles.

There are not any tanks, warplanes or Patriot air protection missiles to contribute to the Western push to arm Ukraine. The 102 anti-tank missiles and 20,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition Luxembourg has despatched from its arsenal have been as many weapons because it might afford to present with out placing its personal navy readiness in danger.

So Luxembourg, a nation with a inhabitants of 645,000, determined to make use of its appreciable wealth to attempt to purchase weapons for Ukraine on the open market, and signed a multimillion-dollar deal final spring for six,000 Soviet-era rockets. Ultimately, although, the federal government delivered solely 600 and was left scrambling for tactics to spend the cash.

At a time when Western shares of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition are operating low, Luxembourg’s travails present a window on the vexing downside of supplying Ukraine with the arms it wants to carry off Russia till the arrival of refined Western rockets, missiles and tanks later this yr.

Ukraine has been burning by way of ammunition at a prodigious price for the reason that begin of the conflict, counting on allies to interchange its shares. However there are not any weapons producers in Luxembourg, and the federal government had already given all it judged it might afford from its personal restricted arsenal.

However decided to make a higher contribution to the conflict effort, Luxembourg arrange a two-man group of in-house arms sellers quickly after the Russian invasion. They got down to scour business weapons markets in Europe and the USA, and to display that their nation’s dedication to defeating Russia was each bit as huge as that of its a lot bigger NATO companions.

“We’re so small, and we’ve got no giant military, and subsequently restricted inventory, and we needed from the start to assist Ukraine,” Luxembourg’s protection minister, Francois Bausch, who additionally doubles because the nation’s transportation minister and deputy prime minister, stated in a latest interview. “However we’re versatile, and so we will go and purchase in the marketplace what they want and ship it on to them.”

He additionally drew a parallel to Luxembourg’s historical past as an invaded state throughout World Struggle I and World Struggle II. “We have been occupied many occasions within the final century, so we’ve got an infinite sensibility for what it means for what’s now taking place in Ukraine,” Mr. Bausch stated.

He added: “We can not let Putin do what he intends.”

Most NATO states are donating from their very own navy stockpiles, in a reasonably simple course of, however some are also snapping up arms on the market on business markets.

However that’s murkier enterprise, significantly when shopping for Soviet-era weapons that in any other case are of little use to NATO, from sellers who could not wish to be recognized for concern of jeopardizing their enterprise by angering Russia.

The boys of Luxembourg’s new arms-buying unit knew little of this once they struck out throughout Europe. They quickly found they might place an order for the Soviet-era rockets, BM-21 Grads, to be constructed at a producing plant within the Czech Republic — a pure match, they thought, for Ukrainian troops already skilled of their use. However as is widespread within the unpredictable world of weapons procurement, the deal quickly went sideways.

Grappling with excessive demand for Grads after the conflict started, the Czech producer ran out of components. To make issues worse, a lot of the firm’s suppliers have been situated in Russia or international locations that refused to export tools that could possibly be used to assist Ukraine. Ultimately, Luxembourg needed to accept the 600 rockets, one tenth its authentic purpose.

Not all the nation’s offers have gone south. It has managed to ship or contract for roughly $94 million in weapons and different navy help for Ukraine from producers in Britain, France, Poland and the Netherlands — about 16 % of the nation’s protection finances, Mr. Bausch stated.

However it has been a wrestle, and that’s nonetheless a tiny quantity in comparison with the billions of {dollars} in safety help that NATO powers like Britain, Germany and the USA have given Ukraine since final February. These three international locations alone have pledged almost $40 billion up to now.

Anna-Lena Högenauer, an affiliate professor of political science and worldwide relations on the College of Luxembourg, stated the federal government gave the impression to be grappling with its longstanding qualms about navy entanglement, regardless of public help for Ukraine.

“Luxembourg has much less of a practice and positively much less expertise getting concerned in conflicts,” Ms. Högenauer stated. “It’s a little bit bit out of the consolation zone of a small state that doesn’t actually assume in navy phrases.”

Luxembourg spends much less on its navy than every other NATO nation, and was the solely state within the alliance to contribute lower than 1 % of its gross home product to nationwide protection final yr. (NATO members have pledged to spend a minimum of 2 % of their G.D.P. to protection, however solely about one-third of the 30 states at the moment accomplish that.)

And Luxembourg, with a G.D.P. above $130,000 per particular person — by far the best in NATO — has contributed solely $25 million to Ukraine in humanitarian help and contributions to NATO and European Union applications which can be supporting Kyiv, in keeping with information offered by its authorities.

That has drawn rebukes from in any other case supportive allies, significantly towards the backdrop of the continued battle in Ukraine.

“The quickly evolving safety context compels us to search out arguments for doing extra, somewhat than causes doing so can be troublesome,” the American ambassador to Luxembourg, Thomas M. Barrett, wrote in an op-ed final June.

However Luxembourg officers stated it’s extra difficult than that. Even when the federal government determined to dedicate extra money to provide Ukraine’s navy, Mr. Bausch stated, there are usually not sufficient folks in his division to determine spend it shortly and with out threat of it being misused.

And there stays the issue of discovering weapons to purchase, as the 2 in-house arms sellers — each navy officers who’ve deployed to battle zones — quickly discovered.

In a wide-ranging interview this month, by which they insisted on anonymity for safety causes, the pair described painstaking, typically irritating negotiations with business brokers, chilly calls to producers and even Google searches to trace down weapons that Ukraine says it wants.

Ammunition stays excessive on the checklist, however generally the hunt for it results in a useless finish. Generally costs have been inflated. In different instances, they stated, different patrons — together with different allied international locations — have snatched up the matériel earlier than they might shut the deal.

After which there may be case of the BM-21 Grad rockets, which fell quick due to manufacturing limits. All was not misplaced, nevertheless, because the Luxembourg arms sellers swiftly contracted with the identical Czech producer to purchase ammunition of each NATO and Soviet-era calibers, to be delivered later this spring. The producer, who the sellers requested not be recognized for safety causes, additionally bought them 12,500 RPG-7 anti-tank grenades, a model of a Soviet weapon; they have been delivered to Ukraine within the first few months of the conflict.

The sellers stated there may be little room for negotiation on costs, on condition that the weapons are in such excessive demand. And, if all goes easily, which is way from assured, it takes a minimum of two weeks to vet the sale, draw up the contract and run it by way of the required approvals.

Thus far, they stated, they don’t seem to be shopping for from states in Africa, japanese Asia, the Center East and South America which can be flush with Soviet-era weapons, out of concern that the arms could also be too outdated to be potent, or about potential bribery calls for.

Camille Grand, who till final yr was NATO’s chief protection funding official, stated Luxembourg’s efforts have been fascinating for example of how nations are quietly working the seams to proceed arming Ukraine regardless of dwindling stockpiles, manufacturing shortages and stretched budgets.

“It’s a form of matchmaking between these with cash and people with some capability,” Mr. Grand stated.