European Union agreement to boost ammunition production to aid Ukraine

On Friday, the European Parliament and member states reached an agreement to boost ammunition production in the European Union to rebuild European arsenals and continue arming Ukraine.

The "Ammunition Production Support" plan is worth 500 million euros.

"This is another testament to the EU's steadfast commitment to supporting Ukraine," said Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.

Brussels hopes to increase the Union's production capacity to one million shells per year over the next 12 months. This will allow Europeans to replenish their stocks and continue delivering arms to Ukraine to help it defend against the Russian invasion.

The European Union opted for an accelerated negotiation process to implement this plan as quickly as possible.

The European Parliament and the member states of the Union are expected to officially endorse the agreement.

This will allow for joint financing of investments by manufacturing companies to increase their factory production in the European Union of land-to-land ammunition, artillery ammunition, and missiles.

The member states are implementing another plan worth two billion euros to send a million shells to Ukraine from their stocks this year and to fund joint ammunition purchases for Kyiv.

The Ukrainian forces have been complaining about a shortage of ammunition during their efforts to repel Moscow's forces from the occupied territories in a counter-offensive that has been underway since early June.

The European Union says it has provided Kyiv with weapons worth a total of approximately 15 billion euros since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022.

 

AFP