EU chief diplomat admits Union will supply Ukraine with 500,000 shells by March instead of promised million

The European Union will be able to supply Ukraine with over 500,000 artillery shells by March, rather than the promised million.

Source: Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, after a meeting of defence ministers of EU states, as reported by European Pravda

Quote: "Since last March until now, until the beginning of this year, we have already delivered 330,000 ammunition rounds. So, one-third of the objective – mainly taken from our stockpiles, from existing stocks. 

By March, today I expect this figure will be increased by 200,000 more, thus reaching 524,000. This is a little bit more than 52% of the objective."

Details: He stressed that the work is a constant process.

"The whole machinery of the European defence industry is working and member states are passing commands [placing orders - ed.] and by the end of the year the planned deliveries will reach more than one million […] The situation will continue to improve in the coming months," Borrell emphasised. 

Borrell also stated that since the start of the Russian full-scale war against Ukraine, European production capacity has increased by 40%: "Today, the production capacity for ammunition is almost one million ammunition [rounds - ed.] per year. But by the end of the year, it will reach 1.4 million [units - ed.]."

Background: 

• Earlier, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that EU defence ministers had agreed at a meeting in Brussels that they would fulfil their promise to supply Ukraine with a million artillery rounds, albeit later than they had planned last year.
• The European Commission believes that the EU will be able to produce a million rounds of ammunition for Ukraine by the spring of this year despite the process slowing down.
• According to Reuters, as of early December, EU member states have provided Ukraine with only 480,000 of the promised million rounds of ammunition.
• In early December, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius reiterated his previous statement that the EU would not be able to deliver one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine by spring 2024 but promised that the situation would improve.

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