EU delivers less than half of promised 1 million shells to Ukraine

Only 480,000 of the million artillery shells that were promised to Ukraine by EU member states by the spring of 2024 were delivered to the country, reported from Ukrainska Pravda. 

In March, the EU developed a plan to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells, one of the key weapons in the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war.

The strategy was divided into three parts: purchases of shells from arms manufacturers through a joint procurement program overseen by the European Defence Agency, investments in its own production, and supplies from the stocks of the EU member states. 

According to Reuters, the EU has provided Ukraine with roughly 300,000 artillery shells from its own reserves, and only 60,000 from joint purchases. Different explanations for falling behind the plan are voiced in the European Union.

Some argue that a large number of EU governments have not placed orders with armaments companies to support their claims of long-term support for Ukraine. Some maintain that the industry requires time to increase output.

The decision to restrict the joint procurement only to EU and Norwegian companies, which France insisted upon, is also being criticised.

Last month, Federal Minister of Defence of Germany Boris Pistorius said the EU would miss its goal of delivering one million rounds of artillery to Ukraine by March 2024.

At the same time, the European Commission called on EU countries to pressure the defence industry to increase the production of artillery rounds for Ukraine.

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