This summer, the EU will train 60 thousand Ukrainian soldiers and transfer more than 1 million artillery pieces to Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the massive invasion by Russian troops, Ukraine has received 31 billion euros in military aid from the European Union and its member states. And this number is increasing every day, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Monday, March 25.
He recalled that in 2021, the European Peace Fund (EPF) was created – an intergovernmental and extra-budgetary fund of the EU – to support partners in military equipment, which is impossible at the expense of the EU budget. Its size was initially 5 billion euros, and now the financial ceiling has grown to 17 billion euros.
Borrell emphasized that the EPF has been the basis of the EU’s military support for Ukraine.
“So far, we have used 6.1 billion euros from the EPF to stimulate support for Ukraine from EU member states, and together with them, the EU has supplied Ukraine with military equipment worth a total of 31 billion euros since beginning of wars. ,” he said .
According to him, by this summer the EU will train 60 thousand Ukrainian soldiers; will transfer 500 thousand artillery shells to Ukraine, and by the end of the year there will be more than 1 million.
“In addition, the European defense industry also supplies Ukraine with 400 thousand shells under commercial contracts. The Czech initiative to buy ammunition outside the EU complements these efforts,” Borrell added.
The politician admitted that this is far from enough, “and we need to increase both our production capacity and the financial resources allocated to support Ukraine.”
“Last Monday at the Council of Foreign Affairs we decided to create a new Fund for assistance to Ukraine within the EPF, worth 5 billion euros, to continue military support for Ukraine. Last Wednesday, I also proposed to Rada to redirect 90% of emergency revenues from Russian immobilized assets to EPF. to increase the financial capacity of military support for Ukraine,” Borrell added.
Let’s recall that President Vladimir Zelensky said that the total capacity of Ukraine and the EU will eventually exceed the production of weapons in Russia.
The European Commission proposes to move the European defense industry into a “war economy mode”
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Source: korrespondent
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.