European Union to deliver €2 billion worth of ammunition to Ukraine

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Brussels, March 20, 2023. © AFP - KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

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2 min

The European Union is giving a considerable boost to its military deliveries to Ukraine. This is the concrete response to the urgent demands made on February 9 at the European summit by Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit to Brussels.

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With our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet

The European Union will deliver ammunition en masse to Ukraine, but it will also buy and produce ammunition to replenish its own stockpiles. This is the result of an agreement by the Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs meeting together on Monday 20 March in Brussels.

In the words of its foreign minister, Josep Borrell, the European Union has broken a taboo. Having said that there will be no EU money for armaments, now there will not only be funding for the supply of weapons, but also for their acquisition and manufacture.

► Read also: Missiles, tanks and guns... who are Ukraine's biggest military suppliers?

This is the concrete implementation of the "war economy" now advocated by the European Commission. The first part of the Union's response to Ukraine's urgent military needs is the delivery of ammunition, in particular 155mm artillery shells, but also ammunition for air defence.

One million shells supplied

One billion euros are being put on the table to reimburse EU states for munitions of this type that they have been able to deliver to Ukraine by 31 May. With a reimbursement rate of around 50%, it will therefore be necessary to deliver ammunition worth 2 billion euros by the same date. Moreover, over twelve months, the Union has set itself the objective of supplying one million shells to Ukraine.

The second component is joint purchases. Another billion euros will be put on the table for joint contracts between groups of countries to help Ukraine. These contracts will have to be signed by the end of September, via the EU's defence agency to European industry.

The third aspect is the long-term recovery of production. European industrialists will have to be guaranteed that contracts will multiply.

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Read on on the same topics:

• European Union
• Ukraine
• Russia
• Volodymyr Zelensky