Military

EU Unlikely to Be Able to Fulfil One Million Shells to Ukraine Promise by March 2024

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union has informed its member states that it is unlikely to deliver on the promise to provide one million rounds of artillery munitions to Ukraine by March 2024, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Sputnik
The European External Action Service briefed diplomats from EU countries this week that the bloc was very likely to miss the target, which would complicate Ukraine's ability to keep up with the pace of Russia's own ammunition production.
According to the publication, the service informed diplomats about the situation this week. It was planned that the EU would provide Ukraine with shells within a year - first from existing stocks, and then through joint purchases and increased production capacity.
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So far, as the report noted, the allies have achieved only 30 percent of the goal under this initiative. As Josep Borrell told EU diplomats at the end of October following a meeting in Luxembourg, the foreign ministers of the EU member states were unable to agree on the allocation of the next funding package for military assistance to Kiev.
In September, the European Commission proposed to allocate an additional €50 billion (17 billion in grants and 33 billion in loans) for the period from 2024 to 2027 to create a special fund to finance the reconstruction and modernization of Ukraine. At the same time, as European Council Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said, starting next year, European assistance will not be unconditional - to receive it, the Kiev authorities must prepare a reconstruction plan, including reforms and investments.
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