The lack of ammunition in the Ukrainian Army could end up tipping the war in favor of Russia. This is the alert message launched this Monday by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrellwhich calls on all Member States to urgently send their remaining reserves to kyiv and mobilize their industries to increase their production capacity.
“The most important and pressing problem for the Ukrainian Army today is to have a continuous flow of 155 caliber ammunition (also 152 caliber, but 155 caliber is the most important). Russian artillery fires about 50,000 rounds a day. One day. Ukraine needs to be at the same level of capacity. They have cannons, but they lack ammunition,” Borrell said upon his arrival at the meeting of EU foreign ministers held in Brussels.
Borrell explained that he is exploring all possible solutions, including providing more community funding through the European Fund for Peace or launching a “joint purchase” of munitions with the help of the European Defense Agency. He has also asked governments “to hand over part of their reserves to the Ukrainian Army.” “It is the most urgent issue. If we fail in that, really, the outcome of the war is in jeopardy.”has highlighted.
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In any case, the High Representative of the EU for the Common Foreign and Security Policy has admitted that there will not be a final decision until the meeting of defense ministers of the Twenty-seven scheduled for on March 7 and 8.
For its part, Estonia has proposed launching a European system of joint purchase of ammunition, similar to the mechanism that was used for the vaccine against Covid-19. This is the only way to rapidly increase the production capacity of the Community military industry, maintains its Foreign Minister, Urmas Reinsalu.
José Manuel Albares and Josep Borrell, during the meeting of foreign ministers this Monday in Brussels
“Ukraine is running out of ammunition and the Estonian proposal is that we should initiate a pan-European purchasing system for the systematic delivery of 155 caliber ammunition to Ukraine. The goal should be to reach one million rounds, as requested by Ukraine, which would have a cost of around 4,000 million euros“, explained Reinsalu.
“The ammunition that Russia uses every day, the EU takes a month to produce. With the current capabilities of the industry, it would take us six years to meet Ukraine’s needs and this is totally unacceptable,” insists the head of Estonian diplomacy.
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The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba(who has canceled his trip to Brussels to attend the visit to Kiev of the president of the United States, Joe Biden) has supported the Estonian proposal and has asked that it be put into practice as soon as possible.
“I thank Estonia for proposing a direct joint procurement of arms and ammunition, which could start with EU members providing one million 155 caliber ammunition to Ukraine. We strongly support the initiative and urge its implementationKuleba wrote on his Twitter account.
I thank Estonia for proposing a joint direct procurement of arms and ammunition, which could start with the EU members providing 1 million 155mm rounds to Ukraine. Even though I can’t join today’s FAC in person, we strongly endorse the initiative and urge to put it into action.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 20, 2023
For his part, the Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albareshas shown itself willing to examine Estonia’s proposal and has recalled that Spain is one of the few Member States that has a “powerful” military industry. “A priori it doesn’t sound bad at all. Quite the contrary”has responded about the plan for the joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine.
“There is one thing that is clear. The war in Ukraine has shown us that we have to rethink European defense and, very specifically, the European defense industry. There has to be interoperability of everything we do in Europe. There has to be a reflection on how to do better and together what we are doing separately“, alleges Albares.
The Foreign Minister has said that Spain supports “immediate peace in Ukraine and in Europe” but always “within the principles of the United Nations Charter, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine“.
“It is very clear to me when the war will end: when Vladimir Putin asks Russian soldiers to return to the borders of Russia that they should never have left. This is a one-sided, illegal and unjust war of aggression from Russia to Ukraine,” Albares has insisted.
“There are not two sides in Europe, there is not one side of victory and the other of peace. We have to stick together on the side of peace after victory,” said Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, Gabrielus Landsbergis. “We have to give meaning to words when we say that we are going to support Ukraine until the end. We have to admit that the end is the victory of Ukraine reconquering all of Ukraine’s territories,” she pointed out.
“Negotiation cannot take place with those who are expected at the special tribunal we hope to create for the heinous war crimes taking place in Ukraine. We do not negotiate with war criminalswe negotiate perhaps with those who lose the war, on an agreement of the postwar conditions”, insists Landsbergis.
