The EU Council agrees €1 billion support to supply ammunition to Ukraine

The EU Council adopted allocation of €1 billion to provide ammunition to Ukraine. The European Peace Facility (EPF) to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “This measure will allow the EU to reimburse member states for ammunition donated to Ukraine from existing stocks or from the reprioritisation of existing orders during the period 9 February to 31 May 2023,” informed the press service of the EU Council.

“With today’s decision, we operationalise the first part of the historic agreement reached by EU leaders to support the immediate delivery of €1 billion worth of artillery ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces. There is no better demonstration of the EU’s united resolve and determination to continue supporting Ukraine’s legitimate right of self-defence against the brutal Russian aggressor,” commented Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The decision implements the first part of the Council agreement of 20 March 2023 on a three-track approach aimed at speeding up the delivery and joint procurement of artillery ammunition.

“Together with the previous seven tranches of support, the assistance measure adopted today brings the total EU contribution for Ukraine under the EPF to €4.6 billion, and once more proves that the EU remains steadfast in its support for the Ukrainian military in defending the country against the illegal Russian aggression,” reads the press release of the EU Council.

Previous assistance measures under the European Peace Facility (EPF) for Ukraine were agreed on 28 February, 23 March, 13 April, 23 May, 21 July, 17 October 2022 and 2 February 2023.

What we know about supplies of ammunition to Ukraine

On March 8, at the meeting of the EU defence ministers in Stockholm, Borrell presented three proposals on supplying ammunition to Ukraine. At the same informal meeting of the EU defence ministers, Ukrainian Défense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov stated that Ukraine needed one million artillery shells worth EUR 4 billion.

On March 14, the EU Council raised the financial ceiling for the European Peace Facility used to fund procurement of arms for Ukraine. The ceiling was raised to EUR 7.979 billion until 2027, which should cover for additional financial needs. On February 15, the U.S. government concluded a defence contract worth over $500 million for the production of artillery shells for the Ukrainian army. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also announced that Germany would increase the production of ammunition to support Ukraine.

On March 20, the EU defence and foreign ministers agreed a plan for joint procurement of 1 million shells for Ukraine.

On March 23, the leaders of the EU agreed the joint procurement of ammunition for Ukraine, and also agreed on supplies of missiles, if necessary.

Suspilne.Media