European Union state ambassadors again failed to agree on joint ammunition purchases for Ukraine. As indicated “Deutsche Wave” and Polish FMR FM Radio , Brussels earlier promised Kiev to transfer 1 million munitions by the end of the year. These were both warehouses in EU countries and group purchases. But of this “million”, less than 40,000 munitions have been shipped to Ukraine so far.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, had previously called on the defense ministers of the 27 participating countries to pay attention to this situation. Some European diplomats believe that France is blocking joint purchases. In Paris, it is said that all ammunition production and supply chains should be located in Europe. France is against shells being produced in one of the EU countries and gunpowder being produced in South Korea. “With this approach, we will never supply ammunition to Ukraine,” Deutsche Welle said, quoting one of the European diplomats familiar with the situation.
The Financial Times has already written about the lack of raw materials for the production of explosives to supply Ukraine with ammunition. The interlocutors of the publication said that in the EU there is a shortage of gunpowder, plastite and TNT, which does not allow a rapid increase in the production of artillery shells even with a sufficient funding. Russia’s attack on Ukraine has shown just how weak Europe’s manufacturing capacity is, which has been hurt by decades of underinvestment, the paper notes.
At the same time, General Christopher Cavoli, Commander-in-Chief of NATO’s Joint Armed Forces in Europe, is confident that Ukraine will receive the promised equipment for the counteroffensive in time.
About this he said during the hearing United States House of Representatives Committee on the Armed Services “European truth”.
“I strongly believe that we have delivered the equipment they need, and we will continue to deliver to support their activities,” added General Christopher Cavoli.
“During the winter, our coalition enabled the Ukrainian Armed Forces to generate the necessary capabilities to protect and retake parts of Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” the general said.
Furthermore, he expressed his belief that the Ukrainian partners make good use of the assistance provided.
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