European Union will not reach its sending target one million bullets To Ukraine this spring, however, the EU’s high representative for common foreign and security policy Josep Borrellthe figure promised last year, Will be exceeded by the end of 2024. “The only thing you have to keep in mind is that so far 330,000 shells have been delivered (one-third of the commitment), by March these will reach 524,000, that is, half the target, and by the end of the year this figure will exceed one million “, he emphasized after a while Informal meeting of defense ministers The Twenty-Seven assessed the state of the arsenals and Kiev’s needs at the front.
“It is clear that Ukraine needs more support, and this is the message I convey to Member States. They need to do more and faster because the war is raging on the front and Ukraine needs more assistance,” the European diplomat recalled. Even though the announced figures are below what was promised and not all countries report their shipments, Borrell said European arms industry In the last two years there has been a 40% increase in production capacity since the beginning of the war. This means that today European companies are already able to produce one million shells per year, and thanks to contracts signed with the European Defense Agency, “we will reach 1.4 million” by the end of the year.
Borrell also announced the figures of the aid provided to Kiev so far to repel Russia’s aggression. Since the start of the war, almost two years ago, the EU and its Member States have provided funds worth 28 billion euros and are expected to send “at least” another 21 billion euros this year. The European diplomat pointed out the training of Ukrainian soldiers, saying, “This is only part of the picture, because there are other positive trends.” said.
60,000 trained soldiers
So far the EU has trained 40,000 people and the 60,000 mark will be reached by the end of the summer. After their meeting via video conference, where the Ukrainian Minister of Defense was a guest, Borrell emphasized that it was an important contribution, considering that “good education means saving lives on the battlefield”: Rustam Umerov.
The meeting also allowed defense ministers to talk about the reform of the European Peace Support Fund and the proposal to allocate 5 billion euros annually for the delivery of lethal and non-lethal materials to Ukraine. EU leaders will discuss the review of the EU budget and the new allocation of $50 billion to Ukraine at the extraordinary summit to be held in Brussels this Thursday.
“I am very optimistic that we will be able to collect one million (bullets) soon,” the Latvian minister said. Andris Spruds. Achieving this also involves increasing the production capacity of European industry through the European Peace Support Fund. As Borrell explains, until now this fund has been used to finance the shipment of weapons directly from the Twenty-Seven’s arsenals. The idea is that it will also serve to increase the production of European industry in the future.
Source: Informacion
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