While the Ukrainian counter-offensive did not achieve the spectacular breakthroughs that some had hoped for, the Russian army increased the number of its assaults in the east, particularly around Adviika. In this context, Ukraine needs support from its international partners more than ever. Germany is providing new military material aid and increasing its funding, but overall the issue is starting to be a little more complicated for the 27 who had put the issue on the defense ministers’ agenda, meeting this Tuesday, November 14 in Brussels, they are especially concerned about the supply of ammunition.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Benazet
The European Union is not moving as quickly as it had hoped, particularly on the supply of ammunition. It has set a goal of supplying one million shells for Ukrainian artillery by March. For the moment, the Europeans have sent 300,000 munitions and the objective will not be reached, says German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
“ The right question would actually be whether promising a million was never realistic. Voices were raised to say: be careful, a million is easy to decide, the money is there, but the production must be there! These warnings are unfortunately right today. We have made a great contribution with our framework contracts and we will continue to do so. We are in discussions with the arms industry. Production must ramp up and accelerate. This is the watchword of the moment “, Boris Pistorius told the press.
Since May, the European Commission has been responsible for a plan to revive production, but also in the longer term the capacities of the European arms industry. The results are starting to be felt, according to her, with an increase in production of around a quarter since February. They want to produce a million munitions per year and the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell is proposing to divert exports to Ukraine, a third of which are intended for other countries.
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