On March 20, the EU agreed on the 2-billion-euro ($2.2 billion) plan to supply Ukraine with ammunition rounds. One half of the sum should be spent on reimbursing munition supplies from the warehouses of EU countries but there is not enough ammunition stored there.
France has spoken out against purchasing ammunition from third countries, which has been proposed by the EU, according to PAP.
Another issue is refinancing of munition supplies since the EU's plan says that the reimbursement will be made based solely on Ukraine's requests, whereas France wants this provision to be dropped, the news agency reported. Paris has insisted on refinancing all supplies to Ukraine, even if some of them could be excessive and not asked for by Kiev, the report added.
France's weapon industry could be behind the country's current position, with arms companies allegedly lobbying to create a mechanism ensuring constant munitions exports to Ukraine regardless of Kiev's requests, sources told the Polish news agency.
Since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Western countries have been supplying Ukraine with various types of weapons. Russia has been warning the Western countries to cease support for Kiev. Moscow stated that any cargo shipments carrying weapons to Ukraine would become Russia's lawful targets.