Military circles in Brussels are questioning the implementation of the plan, according to which the European Union (EU) should transfer one million 155-mm shells to Ukraine by the end of the year. This was reported on April 8 by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
According to the publication, within one year, 17 countries of the association, as well as Norway, must transfer one million ammunition from their stocks to Ukraine, receiving compensation from EU funds. For this, €1 billion is allocated, and the EU plans to allocate the same amount for joint purchases.
“Meanwhile, in Brussels military circles they say that a million shells will hardly be collected. At least not for one year, ”the publication says.
According to the newspaper, negotiations between the parties are difficult, as some EU countries are in favor of buying artillery shells for Ukraine through the European Defense Agency (EDA), while others are against it.
However, the biggest disagreements, according to the newspaper, are related to the purchase of ammunition outside of Europe. France, Greece and Cyprus, in particular, oppose such a scenario. This is due to the fact that a number of European countries fear that orders may go to Turkish manufacturers, while they would prefer their own defense industry to receive orders.
On the same day, The Washington Post wrote that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are experiencing an acute shortage of ammunition and are forced to limit their use. The material indicates that due to a critical shortage of ammunition, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are looking for unexploded ordnance and even use 3D printers to make inexpensive ammunition that can be dropped from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It was also noted that Ukraine fires about 7,700 rounds a day, or about one every six seconds.
In order to eliminate the shortage of ammunition, the EU at the end of March approved a plan to transfer 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine in the next 12 months. However, according to experts, while maintaining the current situation at the front, 83.3 thousand shells per month, which the EU countries are ready to provide, is a little more than half of the needs of the Ukrainian army.
In addition, General Serhiy Krivonos, former deputy commander of the special operations forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated that NATO is unable to produce the required amount of ammunition for Kyiv.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine after the start of Russia’s special operation to protect Donbass. At the end of March, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Russia was aware of the West’s plans to supply Kiev with large quantities of weapons, and drew attention to the fact that the pumping of arms of the Armed Forces of Ukraine aims to prolong the conflict.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
