BRUSSELS: Ministers from the European Union (EU) were set to sign off on a two-billion-euro plan Monday to raid their stockpiles and jointly purchase critically needed artillery shells for Ukraine.
Kyiv has complained that its forces are being forced to ration firepower as Russia’s year-long invasion has devolved into a ground war. Ukraine has told the EU that it needs 350,000 shells per month to help its troops hold off Moscow’s onslaught and launch new counter-offensives later this year. The foreign and defense minister meeting in Brussels is expected to agree on a varied initiative aimed at providing one million shells to Ukraine over the next year while replenishing their own stocks.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated that a deal was required or “we will have difficulties continuing to supply arms to Ukraine.” France’s Foreign Minister, Catherine Colonna, stated that we must assist Ukraine more quickly and urgently. The first part of the plan entails committing an additional one billion euros ($1.06 billion) in shared funding to try to persuade EU member states to tap their already depleted stocks for quick-delivery ammunition.
EU spending another billion euros
The second part would see the EU spend another billion euros to purchase 155-millimeter shells for Ukraine as part of a huge joint procurement push designed to encourage EU defence firms to increase production. Purchasing weaponry on this scale is a significant new step for the European Union, which has seen long-standing efforts to work more collaboratively on defence propelled forward by Russia’s war. Countries have been arguing over details such as whether the EU’s defence agency or member countries would negotiate the orders and whether they should only buy from European producers.
According to diplomats, the plan on the table calls for sending the first billion euros in shells to Ukraine by the May end and signing joint contracts by the beginning of September. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stated that the goal was to supply one million rounds over the next year but that this was not a firm commitment. He stated that it was possible that we would not be able to reach it.
After consuming their stockpiles for a year, EU countries are questioning how much they can share
immediately without exposing themselves. The EU has already committed 12 billion euros in military aid
to Ukraine, with 3.6 billion euros coming from a joint fund to help cover the costs. According to officials, 450 million euros from the fund have been used to supply 350,000 shells to Ukraine since the invasion last February.
The key to convincing countries to deplete their stocks is to show them that European industry is capable of producing more. Ukraine’s ammunition consumption currently far outstrips the amount manufactured by its Western backers. According to Brussels, EU firms must shift into “war economy mode” after scaling back in the years following the Cold War’s end. The industry complains that governments have yet to sign long-term contracts that will allow them to invest in more production lines.
The EU is hoping that a massive joint order for 155-mm shells will incentivize companies to increase output. It has begun contacting 15 ammunition manufacturers in 11 EU countries to encourage them to proceed. Brussels has stated that it intends to remove regulatory bottlenecks, make financing more accessible, and even provide central European Union funds to help boost capacity. However, several European diplomats have expressed concern that the details of these proposals are still hazy and require more assurances that they will have an impact.
