The European Union will increase the budget of the European Peace Fund by €2 billion, the funds of which are used to purchase weapons for Ukraine.

This was reported on the Twitter page of the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

“Today, EU ambassadors approved an additional €2 billion for the European Peace Fund.

This decision clearly signals the EU's unwavering commitment to providing military support to Ukraine and other partners.

On the same day, EU diplomat Josep Borrell said that the EU military mission would train over 11,000 UAF soldiers by the end of March and another 30,000 by the end of 2023.

Brussels will also train crews of tanks that are planned to be delivered to Ukraine through NATO.

Borrell said this at a press conference in Stockholm following an informal meeting of EU defense ministers.

The head of the EU Foreign Service also proposed a three-point plan for the supply of shells to Ukraine.

It involves the urgent dispatch of €1 billion of ammunition from existing stocks, the provision of emergency purchases for another €1 billion, and the transition of the industry to a war footing to increase the production of weapons.

The head of European diplomacy also expressed hope that his initiative would be approved at the scheduled joint meeting of EU defense and foreign ministers on March 20 in Brussels. 

Against this background, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who also attended an informal meeting in Stockholm, said that the alliance intends to "agree on new guidelines, new regulations on stockpiles of ammunition to ensure" that NATO can replenish its own stocks, "while continuing to support Ukraine.

“NATO allies have already signed contracts…and I applaud that they have signed contracts with the defense industry to ramp up production given signals of long-term demand.

Several NATO allies have also launched joint projects for the procurement of various types of ammunition, as well as for the storage of ammunition,” Stoltenberg said.

Ukraine, in turn, continues to demand more and more new supplies of weapons.

This time, Kiev announced that they expect to receive 1 million 155 mm NATO artillery shells and air defense equipment from the European Union.

This was announced by the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov, who also arrived at the ministerial meeting in Stockholm.

  • Josep Borrell

  • AP

  • © John Minchillo

“We will discuss with our friends and partners, with EU defense ministers, our priorities.

Priority number one is air defense systems, and ammunition, ammunition, and more ammunition.

That is why I support the initiative of my friend Hanno Pevkur (Minister of Defense of Estonia. - 

RT

) on the supply of 1 million shells for 155 mm caliber artillery systems, ”said Reznikov.

He also emphasized the importance of continuing the supply of infantry fighting vehicles and tanks to Ukraine, which will help create a "steel fist" on the eve of the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Reduction of own stocks"

Analysts say that against the backdrop of growing requests from Kyiv, the EU itself is experiencing difficulties due to a shortage of ammunition.

The European media is also talking about it.

Thus, the German television channel Das Erste reported that the ammunition for weapons that have already been delivered to Ukraine may run out, because the Armed Forces of Ukraine use much more shells daily than the arms industry produces during the same period.

This leads to the depletion of weapons stocks, states Das Erste.

  • Participants of the informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm

  • AFP

  • © Jonathan NACKSTRAND

In this regard, the TV channel cites the opinion of the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, who believes that defense companies should switch to a “war economy regime”.

In his opinion, funds for these purposes should be taken from the EU budget.

Breton also called for easier access to European Investment Bank funds for the defense industry. 

It is worth noting that Thierry Breton was present at the ministerial meeting in Stockholm.

There he expressed confidence that the European defense industry will be able to meet the needs of Kyiv.

Difficulties with ammunition arise not only in the EU countries, but also in the UK.

This was reported by the ZDF TV channel.

According to him, the British Parliament's Defense Committee is worried that the country's ammunition stocks are too depleted.

“The UK and its NATO allies have allowed their own stockpiles to be reduced to a dangerously low level,” the TV channel quoted a statement from a parliamentary committee.

This circumstance jeopardizes not only the further supply of weapons to Ukraine, but also the security of the UK, since it takes many years to replenish stocks, MPs said.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has previously stressed the urgent need for investment in the armed forces.

At the moment, he is fighting to achieve the highest possible defense budget before the presentation of the new UK budget, ZDF notes.

“Pumping up Ukraine with weapons”

According to experts, calls made in the EU to increase the production of ammunition and switch to a “war economy mode” indicate that the EU is increasingly drawn into the armed conflict in Ukraine.

  • Deliveries of Western weapons to Ukraine

  • AP

  • © Efrem Lukatsky

“Of course, the EU is getting into this conflict more and more.

At the same time, of course, the fact that funds for the war are allocated from the so-called European Peace Fund causes some bewilderment.

This is unhealthy logic.

In general, the current composition of the European Commission is aggressive, ideological and does not solve the tasks that are written in the founding documents of the organization.

They perform exclusively propaganda functions that coincide with US policy, ”said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, in a conversation with RT.

He added that in the structures of the EU there is no position similar to the Minister of Defense, since the European Union is not a military association.

Against this background, the militaristic rhetoric of the EU representatives, including the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, and the siphoning of funds from European funds to support the conflict in Ukraine discredit the European Commission and the EU as a whole.

A similar point of view is shared by Vladimir Vinokurov, professor at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“We constantly see the desire of the European Union to pump weapons into Ukraine.

At the same time, the goals of the collective West in this confrontation are quite obvious - and they do not hide them.

As Jens Stoltenberg recently said, for NATO the risk of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine is not as great as the risk of a Russian victory.

This is the leitmotif of all current EU policy.

And Brussels follows in the wake of Washington in this matter, ”the analyst said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, political scientists believe that Brussels can be forced to change its policy and move away from confrontational rhetoric only if Russia achieves its goals within the framework of the NWO.

“Achieving the goals and objectives of the special operation can change the course of the EU.

Now our troops are gradually liberating more and more new territories in Ukraine from the Kyiv regime.

With the further development of these trends on the battlefield in the West, they may come to the realization that their huge spending on Ukraine was in vain, ”concluded Vladimir Vinokurov.