EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borrell, announced that the European Union (EU) will not meet its commitment to deliver one million shells to Ukraine by March 2024, but aims to fulfill this promise by the end of 2024, the US-based Institute for the Study of War reported.
On 1 February, Borrell said that the EU had supplied Ukraine with 330,000 artillery rounds from March 2023 to January 2024, and anticipates reaching a total delivery of 524,000 rounds by March 2024.
Borrell announced plans for the EU to supply Ukraine with an additional 630,000 shells by the end of 2024. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, noted that the European defense industrial base (DIB) has ramped up its production by 40 percent within an unspecified period. She added that EU member states are facilitating the delivery of munitions to Ukraine by utilizing national stockpiles, placing new orders, or rerouting existing ones.
Von der Leyen announced that the European Commission is set to introduce a new defense and industrial strategy aimed at enhancing coherence and coordination across the EU, from planning to procurement. Additionally, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR), emphasized in a CNN interview that ammunition plays a “decisive factor” in the conflict, highlighting that the volume of rounds is more critical than their quality.
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