The countries of the European Union (EU) cannot agree on the implementation of the plan to supply Ukraine with a million ammunitions. Because of this, Brussels expects that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba will express his displeasure at the meeting with his European colleagues in Luxembourg, which will take place on April 24.
Reuters writes about it.
The head of the EUʼs foreign policy department Josep Borrell stated that despite the disagreement, the bloc will soon reach an agreement on the second stage of the agreement on a million munitions — it provides for the financing of joint purchases by the European Union for one billion euros.
Dmytro Kuleba has already said that Ukraine is disappointed by the inability of the EU to implement the decision on the joint purchase of ammunition. Most likely, he will repeat it at todayʼs meeting.
The EU has decided to buy shells from European companies and Norway, but diplomats say France is insisting on domestic purchases in the bloc.
The first stage — the allocation of one billion euros to compensate countries that provide ammunition to Ukraine from their stocks — is working.
- On March 20, EU member states agreed to purchase one million 155 mm ammunition for Ukrainian Armed Forces over the next 12 months. In the EU, there are three directions: a billion euros for immediate delivery, a billion euros for joint purchases, as well as a mandate to increase production capacity. Politico wrote that EU members are still considering how to implement the agreement.
- On April 6, it became known that the EU cannot agree on who will produce ammunition for Ukraine: European or foreign companies.
- Politico also reported that France and Poland had a dispute because the EU could not agree on the implementation of a plan to supply Ukraine with a million ammunitions.
- Currently, the defense industry of the European Union is capable of producing approximately 25 000 shells per month. According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov, about 90 000 to 100 000 munitions of caliber 155 and 105 mm are needed per month to repel enemy attacks and launch a counteroffensive.