Ukraine urgently needs new artillery ammunition in the war against Russia. The EU now wants to deliver – and spend a lot of money to do so.
The EU states want to supply Ukraine with a million new artillery shells for the fight against Russia in the next twelve months. According to the plans, around two billion euros in EU funds will be mobilized in order to distribute the costs fairly, as several diplomats from the German Press Agency confirmed on Monday at the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The money is to come from the so-called peace facility. It is a financing instrument through which the EU already supplies arms and equipment and supports the training of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The new plans are based on concerns that Ukraine could be short of important ammunition in the near future. This particularly concerns artillery shells with a caliber of 155 mm. The EU Commission and Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell had therefore recently presented a plan on how possible deliveries could be accelerated.
Collective orders planned
Of the two billion euros, one billion is to be used for refunds to those member states that quickly deliver from their own stocks to the country attacked by Russia. The second billion is intended to promote joint procurement projects. The idea is that bulk orders will lower prices and speed up orders.
Contrary to what was initially planned, up to 90 percent of the costs for the ammunition should not be covered by EU funds. There had been resistance from several countries because the rate had been significantly lower so far.
Source: Stern
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