In addition to the main supplies, Ukraine also received a lot of ammunition under bilateral agreements with individual EU member states, Josep Borrell recalled.
The European Union is getting closer to fulfilling its promise to supply Ukraine with 1 million artillery shells per year. Deliveries have almost reached this level. EU High Representative Josep Borrell said this in an interview European truth, released on Monday, November 11.
“We have already delivered more than 980 thousand shells and soon we will deliver 1 million shells,” he said.
Borrell acknowledged that although the EU initially planned to achieve this target in the spring, the EU faces several challenges.
“I know that we made a commitment to reach this level before the spring – and we will not be able to do it by the end of the year. And for this we have accelerated a lot,” the diplomat emphasized.
According to Borrell, in addition to the main supplies, Ukraine also received a lot of ammunition through bilateral agreements with individual EU member states, and the Czech initiative was also mentioned.
“In total, by the end of the year we will provide more than 1.5 million bullets to Ukraine,” he assured.
Regarding plans for next year, Borrell believes that the EU is ready to support Ukraine with stable supplies.
“Once we reach cruising speed, we will be able to continue supplying Ukraine with the same amount of ammunition,” he said.
The problems, as noted by the diplomat, are not only in the transfer of existing reserves, but also in production capacity.
“When we promised to reach the level of 1 million shells per year in the spring, we did not know what the real production capacity was, and it was not as big as we thought,” concluded Borrell.
Let’s remember that in March 2023, at the summit, the leaders of the European Union supported a plan to provide ammunition to Ukraine in the amount of 1 million artillery shells over the next 12 months. Later it was found that the EU could not keep up with the supply of shells.
The media also wrote that the EU greatly overestimated its capabilities for the production of shells for Ukraine.
At the same time, Ukraine was significantly helped by the initiative of the Czech Republic, thanks to which the Ukrainian Armed Forces receive thousands of shells every month.
Source: korrespondent
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