Ukraine war
Reznikov: Need a million artillery shells
The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov described the amount of one billion euros for ammunition as insufficient. photo
© Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency/AP/dpa
The EU states want to make urgently needed artillery ammunition available to Ukraine as soon as possible. However, Kiev warns that the amounts discussed will not be sufficient.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has described the previous EU plans for new ammunition deliveries to his country as insufficient. Ukraine needs a million artillery shells and around four billion euros would probably have to be made available for this, Resnikov said at an informal meeting with the defense ministers of the EU states in Sweden. It is about being able to launch further counter-offensives against the attackers from Russia.
In a discussion paper for the meeting of defense ministers near Stockholm, the EU Commission and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had previously proposed providing an additional around one billion euros for the rapid delivery of ammunition to Ukraine. The money should make it possible to reimburse member states willing to deliver a significantly higher proportion of the costs from EU funds than before. A reimbursement rate of up to 90 percent is under discussion, so far it has been below 50 percent in some cases.
In addition, according to Borrell, another billion euros could be made available for a project by EU countries that want to jointly procure ammunition through the EU. However, details are still unclear.
Pistorius: Money is not the main problem
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized at the meeting that money was “not the main problem”. There are many technical requirements for ammunition that nobody can override. “Therefore, the production of ammunition will always take time,” said the SPD politician.
Bottlenecks would have to be overcome in the coming weeks and months. That’s why the main thing at the moment is “to collect and deliver stocks – whatever we can deliver given our own ability to defend and form alliances,” he said.
According to figures from a government background paper, the Russian armed forces fire between 600,000 and 1.8 million rounds of artillery ammunition per month on average, while Ukraine fires only 60,000 to 210,000 rounds per month. According to the information, the current production capacity of the European defense industry is currently only 20,000 to 25,000 rounds per month. However, an expansion to up to 175,000 shots per month is possible.
Borrell said at the final press conference on the deliberations that he hoped that a formal decision could be made at a joint meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the EU states on March 20. After the talks with Resnikov, you know that the next few weeks will be crucial.
He’s sorry to say that, but you have to adopt a war mentality, Borrell said. You are in times of war.