The European Commission has announced its intention to allocate around 500 million euros to support ammunition production between 2023 and 2025.
The European Union will not be able to deliver the promised million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine, as reported by Sarbaz.kz citing Bloomberg.
According to the publication, the European External Action Service (EEAS) has informed European diplomats that the EU "is unlikely to achieve the target set for March 2024."
Last year, the European Union introduced a "three-way approach" to support Ukraine, including plans to supply 1 million rounds of ammunition by April 2024.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on the European countries' challenges in delivering the promised artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
"I don't think it's a matter of political will, but rather the state of the European defence industry, which is unable to produce a sufficient amount of goods and fulfil complete contracts. There's a lot of bureaucracy, but the EU is trying to address these issues. That's why I'm here in Berlin. If we want to continue defending Europe in the future, we need a new standard, and all barriers must be eliminated."
It was previously expected in March 2023 that significant funds (up to 2 billion euros) could be allocated from the European Peace Fund for ammunition in Ukraine. Furthermore, in September, The New York Times reported that due to Russia's oil sales during the war, ammunition and missile production had significantly increased, surpassing Western rates "sevenfold." Additionally, it was revealed in early November that North Korea had supplied Russia with over a million rounds of ammunition within three months.
