Ukrainian Foreign Minister urges to ban Europian shells export to countries other than Ukraine
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for a ban on the export of ammunition from Europe to countries other than Ukraine. This is due to an acute shortage of shells in the Ukrainian army, according to RND.
"All contracts for the export of ammunition made in Europe to third countries should be terminated and all such ammunition should be sent to Ukraine. Every round made in Europe should serve the purpose of defending Europe," he says.
"I complain about the lack of ammunition at every meeting with our partners. They are all aware of this and have made mistakes that they recognize. They decided too late to increase their production, sign long-term contracts, and launch new production lines. Unfortunately, we are now paying for these mistakes." "We are making every effort to ensure that ammunition is now purchased by European states in third countries and provided to Ukraine," the Minister adds.
Ammunition for Ukraine
At the end of January 2024, Bloomberg wrote that the European Union would not be able to provide the promised million shells to Ukraine by the previously agreed deadline of March 1, 2024. By that time, the EU will have only 600,000 rounds of ammunition. According to the European Commissioner for Finance Johannes Hahn, the EU will be able to produce up to 2 million artillery rounds for Ukraine annually starting in 2025.
As a reminder, in March 2023, the EU Defense and Foreign Ministers agreed on a plan for joint procurement of ammunition. It envisages providing Ukraine with 1 million rounds of ammunition over the next 12 months. In particular, it involved seven countries. However, in November, the EU informed its members that it was unlikely to be able to provide Ukraine with the promised 1 million artillery rounds. This plan should be fulfilled by March 2024.
At the same time, in late November, European Commissioner for the EU Internal Market Thierry Breton, citing statistics, said that by the spring of 2024, the production capacity of defense companies in the EU would be more than a million artillery shells. However, the transfer of ammunition to Ukraine requires an appropriate decision, which has not yet been made.
