The European Union will release 2 billion euros (2.9 billion Canadian dollars) to provide one million shells which Ukraine desperately needs to counter the offensive by Russian troops and to carry out joint purchases in order to reconstitute its inventory.
“We have the starting signal for concrete measures,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced in Brussels on Monday. “We are embarking on a new path for common purchases,” he stressed, during a meeting with his EU counterparts as well as the foreign ministers of the 27 member states.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba, who participated by videoconference, welcomed this agreement. “More artillery ammunition for Ukraine as soon as possible. That was the main goal,” he tweeted. This EU effort will “strengthen Ukraine’s capabilities on the battlefield”, he commented.
The agreement, which will still be submitted to the leaders of the 27 at a summit of heads of state and government on Thursday and Friday, responds to an urgent call made on March 9 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, because his troops limit their firepower lack of ammunition.
“More and faster”
“We must help Ukraine more and faster, by speeding up arms deliveries,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna insisted on Monday on her arrival for the meeting during which the agreement was finalized.
“We have entered the dangerous phase of the war. The Russians have more than 300,000 fighters massed for an offensive and we must help the Ukrainian forces to resist”, explained a senior European official.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who received Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday, held a meeting last week in Rostov-on-Don (southern Russia), not far from the Ukrainian border, with the head of Russian Army General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
The head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell has asked the Member States to devote to the purchase of ammunition for Ukraine the 2 billion euros allocated in December to the European Peace Facility, an intergovernmental fund used since the beginning of the war to arms supplies to Ukraine.
One billion euros will be used to reimburse member states for ammunition taken from their stocks, at a price of 1,000 to 1,300 euros per shell, it was specified. A new shell is currently worth around 4,000 euros and prices are rising.
Ukrainian forces will also receive missiles for their anti-aircraft defense. Supplies are expected by May 31.
“Buy European”
A second billion will be used for joint purchases of 155 mm ammunition intended for Ukraine. The contracts are scheduled for September, with the objective of reducing the lead times for supply and delivery to 6-8 months.
The third part of Josep Borrell’s plan aims to increase the production capacities of European arms companies to “replenish the stocks of EU countries and continue to supply the Ukrainian forces”.
“The idea is to buy European”, not to replenish its stocks by buying from Israel or the United States, explained European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, on Monday, while visiting factories in France. Nexter armaments (guns and shells) and MBDA (missiles).
“We have identified 15 companies in 11 countries. I’m going to go see them all, ”he announced. “Increasing industrial capacity is essential. We have to go into war economy mode”.
“This war is destined to last and the needs of the Ukrainian forces are very great. The EU must rearm,” explained a European diplomat.
European military aid to Ukraine is estimated at 12 billion euros, including 3.6 billion via the European Peace Facility, 63% of which is financed by contributions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. An agreement in principle has been reached to allocate new financing of 3.5 billion euros to top up the Facility. “We’re going,” assured a European diplomat.