The European Commission has prepared and plans to present to member countries a plan to increase supplies of ammunition to Ukraine. It will also replenish the reserves of the European Union (EU) itself.
Spiegel writes about it.
The plan consists of three steps. The first provides for an immediate increase in the supply of ammunition, in particular 155-mm artillery shells, to Ukraine. The European Union plans to allocate one billion euros for this.
The second step involves the joint purchase of 155-mm ammunition by the European Defense Agency (EDA) in order to replenish the stocks of EU countries and ensure the supply of Ukraine in the long term.
The third step is designed to ensure a long-term increase in European ammunition production capacity.
Emergency aid in the framework of the first step will be provided according to an already established scheme: EU countries supply ammunition to Ukraine, and in return they receive money from the European Peace Fund (EPF).
The second step of the plan contains a clear message: the time when peace in Europe was considered guaranteed is over. The situation has fundamentally changed with the attack of Russia, and EU countries must take this into account — by purchasing more ammunition in the long term. This should be done through the EDA project. EU member states and Ukraine should bring together their needs to "place a mass order and give the industry a clear signal about demand." According to the European Commission, only if the industry is sure that such demand exists, it will be ready to increase its production capacity in the long term.
The commission also hopes that joint ordering will lead to significantly lower prices than before. 25 out of 27 EU countries and Norway have already expressed interest in participating in the project, which will last seven years.
- The Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov informed that Russia uses as many artillery shells in a month as all factories in Europe produce in a year. According to him, in total, all factories in Europe can produce 600 000 152 mm caliber ammunition in a year. Commenting on the question that Ukroboronprom started producing such ammunition last November, Reznikov replied that the pace of production does not give cause for optimism.