Shells from the EU: Kuleba names three urgent steps

Ukraine expects three urgent steps from the European Union to increase the supply of front-line artillery. Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said this at a joint press conference with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell in Kyiv on Wednesday, February 7.

“First, we call on EU governments to sign long-term contracts with defense companies to help these companies increase their production capacity,” he said.

The second step, as noted by Kuleba, is to remove regulatory barriers to interaction between European defense companies.

“Both European and Ukrainian companies, so that there are no administrative barriers, there are no legal barriers to communication between them and increased production,” the minister said.

Kuleba also supported Borrell’s words about the need to stimulate negotiations with European companies and third countries to reorganize and reorient existing contracts for the supply of shells from these countries to Ukraine.

“Another action belongs to this category. It is necessary to increase the import of ammunition from third countries and their warehouses. If we act comprehensively on all these tracks, the increase of artillery shell in front will be noticeable,” the head of the Foreign Ministry said.

Let’s recall that at the beginning of May 2023, the EU Council approved a decision on the supply of shells and missiles to Ukraine. It is planned that European countries will provide Ukraine with 1 million shells by March 2024.

However, it is already known that EU countries will not be able to fully implement this plan. According to Bloomberg, the EU will provide Ukraine with 600,000 rounds of ammunition in March.