The European Union has agreed on a plan under which the bloc will send Ukraine a million artillery shells worth 2 billion euros.
The EU hopes that deliveries will be made within the next two years.
It is assumed that EU members who send ammunition to Ukraine will receive compensation from European funds.
EU members participating in the agreement must disclose information about their stockpiles of ammunition – usually such information is kept secret. But European countries hope that when placing large orders for the production of shells, they will be able to reduce purchase prices.
It is not yet clear whether countries outside the European Union, in particular the UK, will be able to take part in the implementation of the contracts.
The current volumes of ammunition production in Europe do not provide the level requested by Ukraine.
Experts warn that it could be many months before the current political agreement leads to concrete deliveries of munitions on the battlefield.
Who’s in the deal
The European Defense Agency has announced which countries have agreed to take part in an agreement to supply a million artillery shells to Ukraine.
It is assumed that 2 billion euros will be spent on this: one billion to link existing reserves and another billion to order new ones.
As the European defense department says, 17 EU countries and Norway take part in the agreement. Among the EU members who supported the scheme are Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.
At the same time, some other EU states have expressed their desire to join the scheme in the future, the European agency notes.
The members of the European Union are 27 countries.
According to the Interfax-Ukraine agency, citing Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, on Monday the Hungarian authorities announced that they did not intend to join the agreement on the supply of ammunition to Kiev.
At the same time, we do not prevent others from doing what they want,” Szijjártó said (quote from Index.hu).
Historic decision
Recall that the EU countries agreed to supply Ukraine with a million artillery ammunition over the next 12 months. Josep Borrell, head of European diplomacy, called it a “historic decision.”
According to the plan presented by Borrell, the EU countries should “ensure the immediate delivery” of “large quantities” of ammunition to Ukraine, including 155-millimeter artillery shells from existing stocks or “pending orders”. To compensate for these costs, one billion euros will be allocated from the European Peace Fund.
Another billion euros will be allocated to reimburse the cost of ammunition that the EU countries will jointly buy for Ukraine. In addition, EU members agreed to establish a commission to increase the production capacity of the defense industry.
Reaction to the deal
The EU decision was welcomed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba.
Today, 17 EU member states and Norway signed an agreement on joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine and their national stocks. I applaud this strategic move that will bring our victory closer,” he tweeted.
The head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, said earlier that Kyiv urgently needed artillery ammunition in large quantities. According to him, the EU proposals for the use of 1 billion dollars. for the purchase of shells will not be enough.
In Ukraine, Russian troops fire about 20,000 shells daily, while the Ukrainian army is four to five times smaller.
On February 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Europe to provide Kyiv with a million pieces of ammunition, including 155mm shells.
According to the DPA agency, this is how many new artillery shells the EU plans to supply to Kyiv in the next 12 months.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.