EU military circles doubt feasibility of getting 1M shells to Ukraine
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Military experts in Brussels are questioning the European Union's plan to deliver 1 million 155-mm munitions to Ukraine within the next year.
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Ammunition are placed as Ukrainian soldiers take part in a military exercise at a military training camp in an undisclosed location in England, Friday, March 24, 2023 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Military circles in Brussels are questioning the European Union's plan to deliver 1 million 155-mm munitions to Ukraine within the next 12 months because, among other things, assembling such a large batch could take more than a year, according to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing sources.
The delivery plan calls for Norway and 17 EU countries to send Ukraine a total of 1 million munitions from their stocks in exchange for compensation from the bloc, according to the newspaper.
The EU will allocate 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for compensation and another 1 billion euros for the procurement of new munitions, according to the report.
The newspaper said that the plan is unlikely to go through, however, 1 million munitions is an amount that is hard to be collected within one year.
It went on to say that the negotiations were difficult because both sides were focused on their "powers, vanity, and national interests," with some advocating placing an order for artillery shells from the European Defence Agency while others opposed it and suggested purchasing the artillery shells outside of Europe.
Western countries have been supplying Kiev with various types of weapons systems, including air defense missiles, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and anti-aircraft guns, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has repeatedly warned against continuing to supply Ukraine with arms.
US arms package to Ukraine
Earlier this week, the Pentagon revealed that the US will be sending a new package worth 2.6 million of military aid to Ukraine to fuel their forces in their war against Russia.
"The United States will continue... to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements," the Pentagon said in a statement.
The military aid package is reported to include ammunition for HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Sytems), artillery rounds, light weaponry, Patriot tank munitions, NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems) defense systems, and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles ammunition.
The bulk of the military assistance package ($2.1 billion) is sourced from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds: which purchase weapons directly from the industries. The remaining half billion dollars are sourced from US stocks.
EU prepares ammo plan to Kiev
The European Union has yet to sort out the legal specifics of how to implement a historic agreement announced about two weeks ago regarding delivering piles of ammunition to Ukraine.
According to Sputnik, which cited diplomats knowledgeable of the negotiations, the plan to jointly buy and supply Ukraine with ammunition has been stalled since EU ambassadors, who reportedly met on Wednesday, failed to make any significant progress.
The subject of conflict is whether these arms contracts will go solely to EU firms and how they will be formally defined, or whether they will be available to outside manufacturers as well.
According to several diplomats, France is pressing for the money to remain within EU borders. Greece and Cyprus have also supported Paris, which some officials believe is motivated by a wish to prevent contracts from being awarded to Turkish manufacturers.
Moreover, it was noted by two diplomats that the European Commission must conduct a deeper investigation to map out the EU companies' capacity before a final deal was reached.
