The EU supports the joint purchase of shells for Ukraine

The countries of the European Union agreed to promote the joint purchase of weapons for Ukraine.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced this in Stockholm on March 8.

He presented his proposal to the Defense Ministers of the European Union member states, which they generally supported.

In particular, this regards speeding up supplies of artillery rounds to Ukraine.

For Ukraine to prevail, we must deliver more artillery ammunition and deliver it faster.

EU Defence Ministers discussed today my proposals on how to do so and agreed on the need to urgently move forward.#EUDefencehttps://t.co/np9C4cuAFh pic.twitter.com/V4M6Y9AuHC

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) March 8, 2023

The plan would be finalized at a meeting of EU Foreign and Defence Ministers on March 20-21.

Borrell’s proposal consists of three stages.

The first one assumes allocating EUR 1 billion through the European Peace Facility (EPF) to replenish ammunition stocks in EU countries ready to hand over ammunitions to Ukraine.

The second stage consists of developing a coordinated demand to procure 155-millimeter ammunitions once again through the European Defence Agency (EDA), refilling stocks in the EU countries, and ensuring long-term supplies to Ukraine. For this, it is proposed to allocate one more billion euros through the EPF.

The third stage of the plan consists in increasing the European defense industry’s capacity to meet their own ammunition demand.

In February, Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, announced at a tripartite meeting in Brussels that Ukraine, the EU, and NATO agreed to join forces to increase the production of weapons and ammunition for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This will be done through a tripartite coordination mechanism that will synchronize the work of arms manufacturers, buyers, and governments.

As previously reported, during an informal meeting with EU Defense Ministers in Sweden, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that Ukraine needs a million artillery shells.